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FRANCIS     FOLGER     FRANKLIN. 


f^- 

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FRANKLIN     AT    TWENTY. 


PiUNTED  IN  LCNDOIT 


i? 


LIFE    AI^D    TIMES 


Off 


BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN, 


BY 


JAMES  PAETON, 


AUTHOR  OP   "LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  AARON  BURR,"    " L,IFB  OF  ANDREW  JACKSON,' 
"  GENERAL  BUTLER  IN  NEW  ORLEANS,"   ETC. 


"I  will  follow  the  right  cause  even  to  the  stake:  but  without  the 
stake  if  I  can." — Montaigne. 


VOL.    I. 


JTEW   YOEK: 

xMASON  BROTHERS,  NO.  7  MERCER  ST. 

Boston.:  Mason  &  Hamlin;  Philadelphia:   J.  B.  Lippinoott  &  Co. 

Chicago:  S.  C.  Griggs  &  Co. 

LONDON:  TRUBNER  &  CO.,  60  PATERNOSTER  ROW. 

1864. 


^a 


A 


Entered  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1864, 

By  mason  BEOTHEES, 

In  the  ClerkV  Office  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States  for  the 
Southern  District  of  New  York. 


C.    A.    ALVORI),   8TKRE0TYPKR   AKD   PRINTER. 


TO 


'^u$snt\ntUs, 


WITH     HEARTFELT    GRATITUDE 


VENEJiATION. 


^4^S 


PREFACE 


In  the  year  1771,  the  sixty-fifth  of  Franklin's  life,  when  he  was 
spending  some  pleasant  weeks  of  the  summer  at  the  coimtry  house 
of  his  friend,  the  good  Bishop  of  St.  Asaphs,  he  began  to  write  an 
account  of  his  early  life,  in  the  form  of  a  letter  to  his  son,  the  Gov- 
ernor of  N'ew  Jersey.  When  he  had  written  twenty-three  sheets, 
which  brought  down  the  narrative  to  the  time  of  his  marriage,  in 
his  twenty-sixth  year,  his  holiday  ended,  and  he  was  drawn  agaia 
into  the  whirlpool  of  politics.  Thirteen  years  passed  before  he  was 
able  to  continue  the  work.  At  Passy,  in  1784,  the  independence 
of  his  country  having  been  secured,  he  was  urged  by  friends  who 
had  read  or  heard  of  the  unfinished  Autobiography,  to  go  on  with 
it.  He  wrote  one  more  chapter  at  Passy.  Resuming  the  narrative, 
four  years  later,  at  Philadelphia,  he  continued  it  to  his  fifty-first 
year,  when  he  had  arrived  in  England  as  agent  for  Pennsylvania. 
He  had  both  leisure  and  strength  to  complete  the  work,  but,  as  he 
approached  the  time  of  his  more  conspicuous  public  life,  his 
modesty  took  the  alarm,  and  he  could  not  prevail  upon  himself  to 
relate  occurrences  which,  if  they  were  related  truly,  would  obHge 
him  to  present  himself  as  the  central  figure  in  important  public 
scenes.  He  ceased  to  write  when  he  had  just  related  his  entrance 
upon  the  European  part  of  his  career. 

He  sent  a  copy  of  what  he  had  written  to  his  old  and  valued 
friend,  M.  Le  Veillard,  of  Passy,  who,  a  year  or  two  after  the  death 
of  Franklin,  permitted  part  of  the  manuscript  to  be  translated  into 
French  and  published  in  Paris.  It  was  translated  back  into  Eng- 
lish, and  published  in  London  in  the  year  1793,  and  continued  to 
circulate  in  this  form,  in  England  and  America,  for  twenty  y«ars. 
This  portion  of   the  Autobiography  was  even  retranslated   into 


rr.i^FACE. 


French,  and  published  ia  one  of  the  French  editions  of  Dr.  Frank- 
lin's works.  The  original  manuscript,  which  remained  in  the  family 
of  M.  Le  Veillard,  was  an  object  of  curiosity  for  several  years. 
Sir  Samuel  Romilly,  who  was  in  Paris  in  1802,  was  favored  with  a 
perusal  of  it.  "  Madame  Gautier,"  he  wrote  in  his  diary,  "  pro- 
cured me  the  reading  of  the  original  manuscript  of  Dr.  Fr.-mklin's 
Life.  There  are  only  two  copies — this,  and  the  one  which  Dr.  F. 
took  with  a  machine  for  copying  letters,  and  which  is  in  the  pos- 
session of  his  grandson.  Franklin  gave  the  manuscript  to  M. 
Veillard,  of  Passy,  who  was  guillotined  during  the  revolution. 
Upon  his  death  it  came  into  the  hands  of  his  daughter  or  grand- 
daughter, Mdlle.  Veillard,  who  is  the  present  possessor  of  it.  It 
appears  evidently  to  be  the  first  draught  written  by  Franklin  ;  for, 
in  a  great  many  places,  the  word  oiiginally  written  is  erased  with 
a  pen,  and  a  word  nearly  synonymous  substituted  in  its  place,  not 
over  the  other,  but  further  on ;  so  as  manifestly  to  show  that  the 
correction  was  made  at  the  time  of  the  original  composition.  The 
manuscript  contains  a  great  many  additions,  made  upon  a  very  wide 
margin;  but  I  did  not  find  that  a  single  passage  was  anywhere 
struck  out.  Part  of  the  work,  but  not  quite  half  of  it,  has  been 
translated,  into  French,  and  from  the  French  retranslated  into 
EngUsh." 

Not  until  181 7,  when  Dr.  Franklin  had  been  dead  twenty-seven 
years,  was  his  Autobiography  given  to  the  world  in  his  own  lan- 
guage and  without  abridgment.  It  was  published,  then,  in  the 
edition  of  his  works  edited  by  his  grandson;  who  had  delayed  the 
issue,  as  it  is  supposed,  from  a  regard  to  the  interests  of  his  aged 
father,  a  pensioner  of  the  English  government,  who  died  in  1813. 

Of  this  fragment  of  Autobiography  I  have  sometimes  been  im- 
jDudent  enough  to  say,  that  it  is  the  only  piece  of  writing  yet 
produced  on  the  continent  of  America  which  is  likely  to  be  gen- 
erally known  two  centuries  hence. 

One  of  the  arguments  urged  by  the  friends  of  Franklin  to  over- 
come his  reluctance  to  write  the  history  of  his  public  life  was,  that 
if  he  did  not  do  it,  some  one  else  would.  The  publication  of  the 
Autobiography  has  had  the  efiect  contemplated  by  these  friends : 
it  has  hitherto  deterred  every  one  from  attempting  a  biography  of 
Dr.  Franklin.  Several  gentlemen  have  essayed  to  complete  Frank- 
lin's own  work,  by  continuing  the  narrative  from  1757  to  the  end 


PEEFACE.  7 

of  his  life.  But  the  whole  story  of  his  career,  as  it  presents  itself 
to  the  investigations  of  another^  remains  to  this  day  untold ;  and 
one  who  would  know  it,  in  all  its  fullness  of  interest  and  beauty, — 
one  who  would  see  Franklin  as  others  saw  him,  which  is  biography, 
— must  read  ten  volumes  and  consult  two  hundred. 

Ill  the  composition  of  the  present  work,  the  Autobiography  has 
been  regarded  only  in  the  light  of  "  material." 

Autobiography  is  one  of  the  most  interesting  and  valuable  kinds 
of  composition  ;  but  autobiography  can  never  be  accepted  in  lieu 
of  biography,  because  to  no  man  is  the  giftie  given  of  seeing 
himself  as  others  see  him.  Rousseau's  Confessions  are  a  miracle 
of  candor ;  they  reveal  much  concerning  a  certain  weak,  wander- 
ing, diseased,  miserable,  wicked  Jean  Jacques  ;  but  of  that  marvel- 
ous Rousseau  whose  writings  thrilled  Europe,  they  contain  how 
much  ?  Not  one  word.  Madame  D'Arblay's  Diary  relates  a  thou- 
sand pleasant  things,  but  it  does  not  tell  us  what  manner  of  person 
Mndame  D'Arblay  was.  Franklin's  Autobiography  gives  agreeable 
information  respecting  a  sagacious  shopkeeper  of  Philadelphia,  but 
has  little  to  impart  to  us  respecting  the  grand  Frankhn,  the  world's 
Franklin,  the  philosopher,  the  statesman,  the  philanthropist.  A 
man  cannot  reveal  his  best  self,  nor,  unless  he  is  a  Rousseau,  his 
worst.     Perhaps,  he  never  knows  either. 

Dr.  Franklin,  moreover,  assures  us,  that,  as  he  wrote  his  Auto- 
biography for  the  instruction  of  youth,  he  omitted  "  all  facts  and 
transactions  that  may  not  have  a  tendency  to  benefit  the  young 
reader." 

The  sources  of  information  respecting  Dr.  Franklin  and  his 
career  are  so  numerous  that  I  have  been  obliged  to  omit  the  cata- 
logue of  them,  merely  because  I  have  not  thirty  pages  to  spare  for 
the  purpose.  He  appears,  in  some  form,  in  almost  all  the  leading 
books,  periodicals,  and  transactions  of  his  time ;  and  if  we  include 
the  works  which  influenced  him  with  the  works  which  he  influenced, 
it  may  be  said  that  the  entire  literature  of  the  last  two  hundred 
years  must  be  exhausted  before  his  complete  biography  can  exist. 
Xew  York  now  afibrds  such  easy  access  to  the  greater  part  of  this 
literature,  that,  I  trust,  nothing  very  important  or  interesting  has 
escaped  my  search.  After  all,  however.  Dr.  Jared  Sparks's  excel- 
lent edition  of  the  Life  and  Works  of  Franklin  is  the  source  of 
the  greater  part  of  all  the  information  we  possess  respecting  him. 


PREFACE. 


The  most  important  addition  which  I  have  been  able  to  make  to 
our  knowledge  of  Franklin  is  the  pamphlet  on  Liberty  and  Neces- 
sity, written  and  printed  by  him  in  his  nineteenth  year,  when  he 
was  a  journeyman  printer  in  London.  The  pamphlet  is  given  en- 
tire as  an  appendix  to  this  volume. 

The  object  of  this  biography  is,  simply,  to  render  a  knowledge 
of  the  benign  and  noble  life  of  Dr.  Franklin  more  accessible  to  his 
countrymen.  Various  circumstances  have  conspired  to  vail  his 
great  merits  from  the  present  generation.  He  is  by  some  mis- 
understood and  undervalued ;  and  some  of  the  most  remarkable 
events  of  his  life  are  only  known  to  those  who  have  made  it  an 
object  of  special  research.  I  have  indulged  the  hope  that  these 
volumes  may  bring  him  home  to  the  hearts  of  many  who  have  been 
estranged  from  him,  and  render  his  wisdom  and  goodness  more 
available  as  a  means  of  influence  upon  the  character  of  the  Ameri- 
can people. 


4  iCi  , 


CONTENTS  OF  VOL  I. 


]P^RT    I. 

CHAPTER  I. 

vx&a 
Ancestors  of  Franklin 18 

CHAPTER  II. 
Franklin's  father  and  mother 25 

CHAPTER  IIL 
Uncle  Benjamin  and  his  acrostics 82 

CHAPTER  IV. 
First  books 44 

CHAPTER  V. 
Apprenticed 51 

CHAPTER  VI. 
He  reads  Shaftesbury  and  Collins 60 

CHAPTER  VII. 
The  first  sensation  newspaper , 72 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
A  runaAvay  apprentice 96 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  stranger  finds  friends , 105 

CHAPTER  X. 
The  perfidy  of  Sir  William  Keith 118 

CHAPTER  XI. 
Journeyman  printer  in  London 128 

CHAPTER  XIL 
The  voyage  home 148 

CHAPTER  XIII. 
f  The  Junto 154 

CHAPTER  XIV. 
^  Regeneration 167 

:E*  J^TIT    II. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  firm  of  Franklin  and  Meredith 181 

CHAPTER  II. 
He  founds  the  library , .  197 

CHAPTER  III. 
Old  Philadelphia 204 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Franklin  as  editor 218 

CHAPTER  V. 
Poor  Richard,  imd  other  publications 227 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Self-Education  continued 240 

CHAPTER  VIL 
i^  The  thriring  and  publio-spirited  citizen 257 

1* 


10  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 
CHAPTER  Yin. 
Electricity  before  Franklin 271 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Franklin  and  electricity 27T 

CHAPTER  X. 
Other  events  about  1750 802 

I>  Jk  R  T    III. 

CHAPTER  I. 
The  public  lay  hold  of  Franklin 825 

CHAPTER  II. 
The  Seven  Tears'  "War 835 

CHAPTER  III. 
General  Franklin  takes  the  field 857 

CHAPTER  IV. 
The  old  dispute  reaches  a  crisis  867 

CHAPTER  Y. 
To  England 881 

CHAPTER  VI. 
In  England  again 888 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Result  of  the  appeal  to  the  King 408 

CHAPTER  VIII. 
Studies  and  publications  in  England 417 

CHAPTER  IX. 
Return  to  Philadelphia 429 

CHAPTER  X. 
A  year  of  intestine  commotion 486 

I>^  R  T    I  ^. 

CHAPTER  L 
The  Stamp  Act  passed 459 

CHAPTER  IL 
The  Stamp  Act  repealed 467 

CHAPTER  III. 
Reaction  after  the  repeal 483 

CHAPTER  IV. 
Official  labors  from  1,766  to  1773 492 

^      "                    CHAPTER  V. 
Official  labors  continued 501 

CHAPTER  VI. 
Private  life  and  studies 519 

CHAPTER  VII. 
Franklin's  English  friends 538 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

The  Hutchinson  letters 560 

CHAPTER  IX. 
The  privy  council  outrage 582 

APPENDIX. 

I.  First  proceedings  against  James  Franklin 601 

II.  Franklin's  pamphlet 604 

III.  The  story  of  Franklin  and  his  mother 618 

IV.  The  Craven  Street  Gazette 622 

V.  Franklin  and  WhitefioM 626 


PART  I. 


APPRENTICESHIP  TO  LIFE. 


LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN. 


CHAPTER  I. 

ANCESTORS   OP  FRANKLUf. 


The  ancestors  of  the  two  men  who  were  most  influential  upon 
the  early  fortunes  of  the  United  States  lived,  for  several  genera- 
tions, in  the  same  county,  Northamptonshire,  the  central  county  of 
England.  But  though  the  two  families  lived  within  a  few  miles  of 
each  other,  they  were  separated  by  a  social  interval  that  was  impas- 
sable. Washington,  as  Mr.  Irving,  with  such  fond  minuteness,  re- 
lates, was  of  gentle  lineage.  Knights,  abbots,  lords  of  the  manor, 
valiant  defenders  of  cities  and  partakers  of  the  spoils  of  conquest, 
bore  the  name  of  Washington,  whose  deeds  and  honors  are  recorded 
in  ancient  parchment,  upon  memorial  brass  and  monumental  stone. 
Franklin,  on  the  contrary,  came  of  a  long  line  of  village  black- 
smiths. A  Franklin  may  have  tightened  a  rivet  in  the  armor,  or  re- 
placed a  shoe  upon  the  horse,  of  a  Washington,  or  doffed  his  cap 
to  a  Washington  riding  past  the  ancestral  forge ;  but,  until  Post- 
master Franklin  met  Colonel  Washington  in  the  camp  of  General 
Braddock,  in  1755,  the  two  races  had  run  their  several  ways  with- 
out communion. 

The  Franklins  lived  at  Ecton,  a  small  parish  on  the  great  north- 
ern turnpike,  sixty-six  miles  from  London.  The  little  village,  we 
are  told  by  one  of  its  parish  priests,  lies  upon  a  gentle,  verdant 
slope,  which  overlooks  an  English  rural  paradise.  A  quarter  of  a 
mile  from  the  village,  in  both  directions,  the  turnpike  becomes  an 
avenue  of  venerable  elms,  which  shade  not  the  road  only,  but  a 
wide  grassy  plain  as  well,  that  serves  the  villagers  for  promenade 


14  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP    BENJAMIN   EEANKLIN. 

and  play-ground.*  Picturesque  glimpses  of  the  tall  tower  of  the 
ancient  church  are  caught  through  the  branches  of  the  trees,  and 
the  village  is  gradually  disclosed.  Along  this  shaded  road  crept 
the  huge  eight-horse  wains  that  were  three  weeks  in  going  from 
London  to  Edinburgh,  stopping  at  the  shop  of  the  village  smith  to 
have  their  wheels  greased — a  work  which  only  the  blacksmiths  of 
the  olden  time  were  capable  of  performing,  and  which,  as  it  had  to 
be  frequently  repeated,  was  an  important  source  of  their  income.f 
Persons  still  living  remember  the  time  when  the  inventions  which 
enable  a  vehicle  to  go  all  day  without  stopping  at  the  blacksmith's 
shop  for  that  purpose,  caused  a  general  alarm  in  the  trade.  "  The 
blacksmiths  will  all  be  ruined  !"  was  the  cry.  But  this  was  long 
after  the  Franklins  had  ceased  to  ply  their  hereditary  vocation  at 
the  roadside  in  Ecton. 

In  other  particulars,  the  blacksmiths  of  two  hundred  years  ago 
must  have  differed  from  those  of  the  present  time.  Sheffield,  Bir- 
mingham, and  a  few  other  manufacturing  towns  now  make  the 
greater  part  of  the  iron  utensils  used  in  the  world.  When  the 
ancestors  of  Franklin  wielded  the  hammer,  the  village  smith  must 
have  supplied  his  neighborhood  with  most  of  the  iron-work  required 
in  it,  and  the  trade  must  have  had  a  rank  and  importance  among 
mechanical  employments  which  it  does  not  now  enjoy.  The  smith 
must  have  been  very  frequently  called  upon  to  invent  as  well  as 
execute.  He  was  probably  the  first  mechanic  in  his  parish ;  his 
shop  a  centre  of  parish  gossip.  Hugh  Miller,  writing  of  the  Scot- 
land of  his  childhood,  where  old  customs  lingered  long  after  their 
extinction  in  England,  draws  a  picture  of  a  country  blacksmith 
which  might  stand  for  a  veritable  portrait  of  one  of  those  silent, 
sagacious,  brawny  Franklins  from  whom  our  great  printer  de- 
scended. 

"  A  village  smith,"  he  says,  "  hears  well-nigh  as  much  gossip  as 
a  village  barber;  but  he  develops  into  quite  a  different  sort  of  man. 
He  is  not  bound  to  please  his  customers  by  his  talk ;  nor  does  his 
profession  leave  his  breath  free  enough  to  talk  fluently  or  much ; 
and  so  he  listens  in  grim  and  swarthy  independence — strikes  his 
iron  while  it  is  hot — and  when,  after  thrusting  it  into  the  fire,  he 

*  "History  and  Antiquities  of  Ecton,"  by  Eev.  John  Cole,  p.  2. 

t  The  established  charge  for  greasing  the  wheels  of  a  large  wagon  or  coach  was  3s.  6d. 


AKCESTOES    OF   FRANKLIN.  15 

bends  himself  to  the  bellows,  he  drops,  in  rude  phrase,  a  brief,  judi- 
cial remark,  and  again  falls  steadily  to  work."  * 

Was  it  so  that  Dr.  Franklin  gained  his  unequaled  power  of 
holding  his  tongue?  Was  it  from  his  grimy  progenitors  that  he 
inherited  that  mastery  over  himself  which  led  Mr.  Bancroft  to  re- 
mark, that  he  never  spoke  a  word  too  soon,  nor  a  word  too  late, 
nor  a  word  too  much,  nor  failed  to  speak  the  right  word  at  the 
right  season  ? 

On  the  lower  outskirt  of  sequestered,  umbrageous  Ecton,  the 
Franklins  possessed,  for  three  hundred  years  or  more,  a  farm  of 
thirty  acres,  a  small  stone  dwelling-house,  and  a  forge,  all  of  which 
the  eldest  son  regularly  inherited,  as  far  back  as  we  have  any  knowl- 
edge of  the  family.  The  little  farm  not  sufficing  for  the  support  of 
a  household,  it  was  a  custom  in  the  family  for  the  heir  of  the  estate 
to  learn  the  trade  of  a  blacksmith,  and  to  take  his  youngest  brother 
as  an  apprentice.  All  the  other  sons  were  apprenticed  to  trades ; 
the  daughters  married  tradesmen  or  farmers ;  and,  during  the 
whole  period  of  three  centuries,  only  one  of  the  family  raised  him- 
self above  the  rank  in  which  he  was  born. 

A  conjecture  has  been  made  respecting  the  remoter  origin  of  the 
family,  which  deserves  mention  only  because  it  derives  probability 
from  Benjamin  Franklin's  peculiar  cast  of  character.  The  word 
Franklin,  as  we  learn  from  Chaucer  and  Spenser,  meant  freeholder, 
and  was  frequently  used  in  the  sense  of  country  gentleman. f 
The  name,  besides  being  of  French  origin,  was  a  common  one  in 
France  as  well  as  in  England,  and  particularly  common  in  Picardy, 
whence,  during  the  times  of  persecution,  many  Protestants  fled  to 
England.  From  one  of  these  refugees,  it  is  thought,  the  Franklins 
may  have  descended;   and  there  came  a  time  when  several  Fran- 

*  Hugh  Miller's  "  My  Schools  and  Schoolmasters,"  chap.  ix. 

t  "  This  worthy  Franklin  bore  a  purse  of  silk, 

Fixed  to  his  girdle,  white  as  morning  milk. 

Knight  of  the  Shire,  first  Justice  at  th'  Assize, 

To  help  the  poor,  the  doubtful  to  advise. 

In  all  employments,  generous,  just,  he  proved ; 

Eenowned  for  courtesy,  by  all  beloved." 

Chaucee. 

"  A  spacious  court  they  see. 


Both  plain  and  pleasant  to  bo  walked  in, 
Where  them  does  meet  a  Franklin  fair  and  free." 

Spenser. 


16  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN. 

quelins  of  France  were  eager  in  claiming  relationship  with  the  most 
eminent  name  in  Europe.  Franklin  certainly  exhibited  French 
traits  of  character.  That  sprightliness  of  mind  which  he  possessed, 
that  mixture  of  gayety  and  prudence,  of  fancy  and  good  sense,  has 
frequently  resulted  from  the  union  of  the  two  races.  The  mother 
of  Sydney  Smith  was  the  daughter  of  a  French  refugee ;  and  who 
so  like  FrankUn  as  Sydney  Smith  ?  The  grandfather  of  Garrick 
was  a  Frenchman ;  and  in  Garrick  were  curiously  blended  extreme 
vivacity  and  extreme  caution.  Gayety  of  mind  and  brilliancy  of 
utterance  are  not  English  qualities ;  somewhere  in  the  pedigree  of 
the  Englishman  who  has  them,  may  generally  be  found  a  French 
or  Irish  ancestor.  It  has  not  been  often  remarked,  but  it  is  true, 
that  the  Frenchman,  with  all  his  liveliness,  and  dash,  is  a  very  pru- 
dent person,  excelled  by  no  man  in  the  art  of  making  the  most  of 
small  means.  Our  Franklin,  then,  may  have  inherited  with  his 
solid  English  traits,  an  infusion  of  vivifying  Celtic  blood. 

Be  that  as  it  may,  these  Franklins  of  Northamptonshire  were 
a  strong-armed,  long-Hved,  prolific,  steadfast,  and  cheerful  race. 
There  was  also  a  lurking  talent  in  the  family,  which  seemed  to  gain 
force  in  the  later  generations. 

Our  Benjamin  Franklin,  himself  a  youngest  son,  was  descended 
from  a  line  of  four  youngest  sons,  respecting  each  of  whom  we 
have  a  little  trustworthy  information,  derived  principally  from  a 
letter  written,  in  his  old  age,  by  Josiah  Franklin  to  his  son  Benja- 
min, and  partly  from  Benjamin's  autobiography  and  letters.  All  of 
them  were  blacksmiths,  except  his  father,  Josiah,  who  learned  the 
trade  of  a  dyer.  We  have  one  glimpse  of  an  ancient  FrankUn,  the 
great-great-great-grandfather  of  Benjamin,  who  wielded  the  sledge- 
hammer in  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  when  Lawrence  Washington  was 
Mayor  of  Northampton.  This  ancient  personage,  when  he  was  a  well- 
grown  lad,  left  his  lather's  house  at  Ecton,  and,  according  to  a  custom 
of  that  age,  went  forth  to  seek  his  fortune,  i.  e.,  to  learn  a  trade.  He 
stopped  first  at  the  house  of  "  a  tailor,"  with  whom  he  engaged  to 
stay  "  upon  liking."  But  this  tailor,  wrote  Josiah  Franklin,  "  kept 
such  a  stingy  house  that  the  boy  left  him  and  traveled  farther.'' 
Next,  he  came  to  the  house  of  a  smith  ;  "  and  coming  on  a  fasting 
day,  being  in  popish  times,  he  did  not  like  it  there  the  first  day  ;  the 
next  morning,  the  servant  was  called  up  at  five,  but  after  a  little 
time  came  a  good  toast  and  good  beer,  and  he  found  good  house- 


ANCESTORS    OF   FKANKLIN.  17 

keeping  there ;  he  staid  and  learned  the  trade  of  a  smith."     And 
there  ends  the  history  of  this  adventurous  youth. 

Of  his  youngest  son  (Benjamin's  great-great-grandfather),  we 
know  only  that,  in  the  days  of  Bloody  Mary,  he  was  a  Protestant ; 
which  is  not  an  insignificant  fact.  For,  as  it  is  only  the  best  races 
that  have  the  force  of  intelligence  requisite  to  throw  off  ancient  su- 
perstition, so  it  is  the  best  specimens  of  the  best  races  that  are  able 
to  do  so  first.  This  worthy  Franklin  was  he  who  kept  his  Bible 
tied  open  with  tape  under  the  lid  of  a  stool.  When  he  read  it  to 
his  family,  one  of  the  children  was  stationed  at  the  door  to  give 
notice  of  the  approach  of  the  official  spy.  When  the  alarm  was 
given,  the  forbidden  book  was  concealed  by  closing  the  lid  and  put- 
ting the  stool  in  its  place.  Like  Montaigne,  he  would  "follow 
the  right  cause  to  the  fire,  but  without  the  fire  if  he  could."  There 
was  a  tradition  in  the  family,  that  a  daughter  of  this  wary  Protest- 
ant slily  stole  the  commission  of  one  of  the  violent  persecutors  from 
his  saddle-bags,  and  put  a  pack  of  cards  in  its  tin  case ;  upon  pro- 
ducing which,  to  justify  and  announce  his  proceedings,  the  savage 
priest  was  discomfited. 

The  youngest  son  of  this  dextrous  Bible-reader  (the  great-grand- 
father of  Benjamin)  lived  in  less  perilous  times,  but,  being  less  wary 
than  his  father,  got  into  trouble.  Of  him  we  are  told  that  he  was 
imprisoned  for  a  year  and  a  day,  "  on  suspicion  of  his  being  the 
author  of  some  poetry  that  touched  the  character  of  some  great 
man." 

Thomas,  the  son  of  this  imprisoned  Franklin,  and  the  grandfather 
of  our  Benjamin,  was  a  man  of  peculiar  worth,  happy  in  his 
circumstances  and  in  his  children,  as  they  were  in  their  pa- 
rents. "There  were  nine  children  of  us,"  writes  his  son  Josiah, 
"  who  were  very  happy  in  our  parents,  who  took  great  care  by 
their  instructions  and  pious  example  to  breed  us  in  a  religious  way." 
Another  of  his  sons  (our  Benjamin's  good  Uncle  Benjamin,  of 
whom  more  anon),  when  he  was  an  old  man  in  Boston,  wrote  in 
one  of  his  poetry  books,  still  in  existence,  three  entries  respecting 
his  father,  which  I  will  here  transcribe : 

1. 
"  My  Father's  Birth-place  Age  &  Death. 

"  Tho:  Franklin  was  born  at  Ecton  in  Northamptonshire  on  8  day 
of  Oct,  1598.     He  married  Mrs.  Jane  White  Neece  to  Coll:  White 


18  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN. 

of  Banbury,  and  had  by  her  Nine  children.  He  dyed  at  his  son 
John's  in  Banbury  on  the  21  March  1681,  in  the  84  year  of  his 
Age." 

2. 
"Memokand. 

"  On  the  wall  of  my  Father's  parlour,  at  Ecton  in  Northampton- 
shire, Was  written  in  Church-Text,  Round  about  the  Room,  near 
the  floor  above  it,  the  16  and  17  verses  of  3  John.  God  soe  loved 
the  world  yt  He  gave  his  onley  begotten  Son  that  whosoever  be- 
leeveth  in  Him  should  not  perish  but  have  everlasting  life. 

"  For  God  sent  not  his  son  into  this  world  to  condemn  the  world 
but  that  the  world  through  him  might  be  saved/' 

3. 
"Expressions  used  by  my  Father  In  prayer. 

"31  ps  5.  Holy  Father  into  thy  Hand  we  commit  our  spirits 
for  thou  hast  redeemed  them  O  Lord  God  of  truth. 

"  Command  thine  Angel  to  Encamp  round  about  our  Habitation. 
24  psal.  1. 

"  Give  thine  angels  charge  over  us  that  noe  Evil  may  come  Nigh 
our  Dwelling.   91  ps.  10.  11. 

"  Thou  Knowest  our  Down  lying  and  riseing  up.  Thou  art  Ac- 
quainted with  all  our  Wayes  and  knowest  our  Tho'ts  affar  off.  139 
ps.  2.  3. 

"  We  Thank  thee  O  Father  Lord  of  Heaven  and  Earth  Tho' 
thou  hast  hid  these  things  from  the  wise  and  prudent  yet  thou  hast 
revealed  them  unto  babes.  Even  so.  Holy  Father  for  soe  it 
seemed  Good  in  thy  sight.  11  Mat.  25.  26. 

"  Holy  Father  keep  through  thine  own  Name  all  those  that  are 
thine  that  none  of  them  be  lost.  17  Joh.  11.  12. 

"For  We  know  that  in  us,  that  is  in  our  flesh  there  dweleth  noe 
Good  thing.  7  Rom.  18. 

"  2  Cor.  3.  5.  We  are  not  sufficient  of  our  selves  to  think  any 
thing  as  of  our  selves  but  all  our  sufliciency  is  of  thee. 

"  We  beleeve  O  Lord  that  thou  art  not  slack  concerning  thy 
promise,  but  Long  suflering  to  us-ward  Not  willing  that  we 
should  perish.  We  are  Looking  for  and  hasting  unto  the  day  of 
God,  for  we  know  that  day  will  come  as  a  Thiefe  in  the  Night. 


ANCESTOBS    OF   FRANKLIN.  19 

What  maner  of  persons  therefore  ought  We  to  be  in  all  holy  conver- 
!  ution  and  Godlines.  2  Pet.  3.  9.  10.  11.  12. 
"And  83  ps  part  1.  2.  3.  and  the  whole  T  ver." 

We  have  further  glimpses  of  this  good  man  in  the  old  Tithes- 
Book  sent  by  Thomas  Carlyle  to  Edward  Everett,  a  fev/  years  ago 
and  deposited  by  Mr.  Everett  in  the  library  of  the  Massachusetts 
Historical  Society.  "  A  strange  old  brown  manuscript,"  wrote 
Mr.  Carlyle,  "  which  never  thought  of  traveling  out  of  its  native 
parish,  but  which  now,  so  curious  are  the  vicissitude  and  growth 
of  things,  finds  its  real  home  on  your  side  of  the  Atlantic,  and  in 
your  hands  first  of  alL^?he  poor  manuscript  is  an  old  Tithes-Book 
of  the  parish  of  Ectb^^ftT^orthamptonshire,  from  about  1640  to 
1700,  and  contains,  I  perceive,  various  scattered  faint  indications  of 
the  civil  war  time,  which  are  not  without  interest ;  but  the  thing 
which  should  raise  it  above  all  tithes-books  yet  heard  of  is,  that  it 
contains  actual  notices,  in  that  fiishion,  of  the  ancestors  of  Benjamin 
Franklin — blacksmiths  in  that  parish !  Here  they  are — -their  forge- 
hammers  yet  going — renting  so  many  *yard  lands'  of  Northampton- 
shire church-soil — keeping  so  many  sheep,  etc.,  etc. — little  con- 
scious that  one  of  the  demigods  was  about  to  proceed  out  of  them. 
I  flatter  myself  these  old  plaster-cast  representations  of  the  very 
form  and  pressure  of  the  primeval  (or  at  least  prior-eYal)  Frank- 
lins will  be  interesting  in  America ;  there  is  the  very  stamp,  as  it 
were,  of  the  black  knuckles,  of  their  hob-nailed  shoes,  strongly  pre- 
served to  us,  in  hardened  day^  and  now  indestructible,  if  we  take 
care  of  it !" 

An  examination  of  this  strange  brown  manuscript  is  somewhat 
disappointing  to  an  anxious  seeker  after  information.  It  is  the  pri- 
vate record  of  a  clergyman  of  the  parish,  in  which  he  was  accus- 
tomed to  enter  the  sums  received  for  tithes  and  the  rent  of  his 
glebe-lands;  the  sums  being  usually  expressed  in  algebraic  lan- 
guage. The  name  Franklin  occurs  nearly  two  hundred  times  in  it; 
but  Nicholas  Franklin,  Thomas  Franklin,  and  Thomas  Franklin  the 
younger,  are  the  only  Franklins  mentioned.  If  we  cannot  perceive 
the  stamp  of  their  black  knuckles,  nor  of  their  hob-nailed  shoes,  we 
can  discover  that  those  Franklins  rented  portions  of  the  parson's 
glebe,  and  usually  paid  their  rent  and  their  tithes  with  the  regu- 
larity of  respectable   householders;   that  Thomas  Franklin  kept 


20  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 

sheep,  cows,  and  bees,  the  tithe  of  the  increase  of  which  went  to 
the  parson;  that  Thomas  Franklin,  the  younger,  frequently  received 
tithes  and  rents  for  the  parson,  who  then  sometimes  styled  him  "  Mr. 
Franklin,"  and  apparently  held  him  in  high  estimation  as  one  of 
the  pillars  of  the  church ;  and  that  both  Thomas  Franklins  occa- 
sionally had  a  bill  to  present  to  the  parson  for  "  smith's  work." 
The  following  are  a  few  of  the  entries : 

"Thomas  Feanklin. 

"  1646.     Holdeth  ^  yardland  in  fee.  it  is  said  this  i  of 

,  Th.  Franklin  &  the  3^  of  John  Hensman  are  but 

3|  in  raeesure  of  the  Hide  but  comon  for  4  yardl 

&  holdeth  1  yl  of  Mr  Jones   wintered  sheep  18. 

lambes  9 

"  Dec.  16.  R  for  landgrass  J5  vjc?  for  milk  iiijs 
Yjd  for  wool  &  lamb  iiijs         ....  ^s 

"  paid  his  bill  the  same  day  xjs 
"  Euen  with  him  hitherto. 
"1647.  Sept.  21.     R  of  him  for  small  tithes        .         .  vs     iijd 

&  paid  his  bill  the  same  day  xxvJ5.  xd.     he  had 
a  tithe  lamb  this  yeer  which  he  hath  to  succle  me 
another  next  year  if  it  fall 
"  1648.  Nov.  22.     R  for  4  cowes  &  grass         .         .  yjs     YJd 

&  I  paid  his  bill  iiJ5  &  ijs  remaining  due  upo'  a 
former  bill  in  Sept.  &  what  is  in  that  bill  aboue 
xxijs  I  ow  him  still.     Dec.  4.  1648  I  paid  him    ^ 
the  rest  of  the  bill  aforesaid  being  xvdb  for  w"  I 
gaue  him  xvjdf 

"  1649.  Febr.  8.    R  for  5  cowes  &  2  yardland  gross  ixs     vjd 

and  paid  him  his  bill  this  day  xxjs  iiijc? 

"  1650.  Dec.  6.  paid  his  bill  xxijs  jc?    R  for  4  cowes  & 

and  ryland  grass      ......         viiJ5 

"  1651.  Febr  20.     R  for  small  tithes  of  last  yeer     '   .         xvjs 
paid  his  bill  11.  03 

"1652.  July  10.  his  bill  lis.  OSd.  setts  off  iJ5  for  rie 
straw  &  ixs  ujd  for  small  tithes  of  this  yeer 
there  remaines  due  for  small  tithes  vjs  ixd 


ANCESTORS    OF   FBANKLIN.  21 

"1665.  March  25. 

"The  Glebe  thus  letten 

"  The.  Franklin  holdeth  one  yl  till  Michaelmas 
next,  except  fallowes  medowes  &  comons  w*"  he 
now  leaveth.  is  in  arrere  for  rent  due  at  Mich      £ 
last  &  his  rent  now  due 4.  00.  00 

"  Tho.  Corbet  holdeth  1  yl  rent  now  due     .  4.  00.  00 

&  5  lands  at  the  gate 

he  entreth  now  on  the  fallowes  medowes  & 
comons  of  half  the  yl  w"  Tho.  Franklin  is  leaving 
Tho.  Webster  entreth  on  the  other  halfe 

"For  1673.     R  March  30.  1673.  of  Tho.  Fr.  the  yonger 

for  smaU  tithes iiijs 

"  1674.  Aug.  28.  Tho.  Franklin  sen.  brought  us  a  pot 
of  Tithe  honey  &  ijs  vjd  for  hives  sold  of  which 
I  gaue  him  back  xviijd 

"For  1674.    RMay.  1  1675  of  Tho.  Franklin  jun.  for 

small  tithes  of  half  yl iiiJ5 

"For  1675.     R  for  the  same iiiJ5 

"  For  1676.     R.  Apr.  28  1677  for  small  tithes  of  half  yl.      iiiJ5 
&  for  offerings  at  Eastor  last  ijd    waxshot  ^db      njdb 

"1675.  March  26.  The  same  day  sent  to  my  brother 
Rushworth,  at  his  request,  by  Tho  :  Franklin, 
going  to  take  seisin  at  Gillesborough  45s  so  rests 
in  my  hands  60£. 

"1677.  May.  Tho.  Franklin  gave  John  fro  me  a  Guiny, 
&  May  ult.  he  received  of  the  Carrier  w*  I  sent 
iiij£ 4.00.00. 

"Me.  Freeman. 

"  1675.  March  6.     paid  in  his  name  to  Tho.  Franklin 

for  Mr.  Catesbyes  use  for  w'  bond  is  to  be  given         xx£. 

"1678.  Dec.    19.      Tho.   Franklin  brought  from   Mr. 

Catesby  a  bag  of 50.00.00 

"  1679.  March  26.     Mat.  Linwood  int  by  Th.  Fr.        .  1.00.00 

Mem^"""  that  for  the  400£  w'  I  owe  Mr.  Freeman 


22  LIFE   AKD   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIJT   FRANKLIN. 

upon  a  bond  which  lies  in  Tho :  Franklins  hand 
he  is  content  to  accept  the  securitys  w"  I  haue  of 
Barth.  Coles  by  mortg.  for  200£  Mr.  Dods  mort- 
gage for  100  &  Mr.  Gardners  bond  for  100£. 
In  witness  hereoff  I  have  sett  my  hand  this 
Tth  day  of  Aug :    16V8. 

Sam:  ffeeeman. 
"  1678.  March  10.     Paid  Tho.  Franklins  bill  for  Deeds 
of  Conveyance,  Copyes  &  his  proportion  of  charg 

of  Fine  &c 4.03.02 

"1689.  Tho.  Lark. 

N.  B.  Hee  pays  all  his  Tiths  to  Mr.  Franklyn  y* 
were  behind. 

Touching  this  Thomas  Franklin,  the  younger,  who  received  tithes, 
and  carried  bags  of  money,  and  brought  in  a  bill  for  drawing  deeds 
of  conveyance,  we  must  say  a  few  words,  for  he  was  the  only 
Franklin  of  Ecton  who  ever  rose  to  social  importance  in  his  county. 
Thomas  Franklin,  the  elder,  had  four  sons :  Thomas,  John,  Benja- 
min, and  Josiah.  There  lived  at  Ecton,  during  the  boyhood  of 
these  four  sons,  a  Mr.  John  Palmer,  the  squire  of  the  parish  and 
lord  of  an  adjacent  manor ;  who,  attracted  by  their  intelligence  and 
spirit,  lent  them  books,  assisted  them  to  lessons  in  drawing  and 
music,  and,  in  various  ways,  encouraged  them  to  improve  their 
minds.  All  the  boys  appear  to  have  been  greatly  profited  by 
Squire  Palmer's  friendly  aid ;  but  none  of  them  so  much  as  Thomas, 
the  eldest,  inheritor  of  the  family  forge  and  farm. 

In  families  destined  at  length  to  give  birth  to  an  illustrious  indi- 
vidual, nature  seems  sometimes  to  make  an  essay  of  her  powers 
with  that  material,  before  producing  the  consummate  specimen. 
There  was  a  remarkable  Mr.  Pitt  before  Lord  Chatham ;  there  was 
an  extraordinary  Mr.  Fox  before  the  day  of  the  ablest  debater  in 
Europe;  there  was  a  witty  Sheridan  before  Richard  Brinsley; 
there  was  a  Mirabeau  before  the  Mirabeau  of  the  French  Revolu- 
tion. And,  to  cite  a  higher  instance  :  Shakspeare's  father  was,  at 
least,  extraordinarily  fo?id  of  dramatic  entertainments,  if  we  may 
infer  anything  certain  from  the  brief  records  of  his  mayoralty  of 
Stratford ;  for  he  appears  to  have  given  the  players  the  kind  of 
welcome  that  Hamlet  admonished  Polonius  to  bestow  upon  them. 
Thomas  Franklin,  the  eldest  uncle  of  our  Benjamin,  learned  the 


ANCESTORS    OP   FRANKLIN.  23 

blacksmith's  trade  in  his  father's  shop,  but,  aided  by  Squire 
Palmer  and  his  own  natural  aptitude  for  affairs,  became,  as  his 
nephew  tells  us,  a  conveyancer,  "  something  of  a  lawyer,  clerk  of 
the  county  court,  and  clerk  to  the  archdeacon,*  a  very  leading 
man  in  all  county  affairs,  and  much  employed  in  public  business." 
He  was  a  man  of  great  public  spirit,  set  on  foot  a  subscription  for 
a  chime  of  bells,  and  devised  a  method  of  saving  the  meadows  from 
being  overflowed.  Such  an  opinion  of  his  skill  and  wisdom  pre- 
vailed in  the  county,  that  his  advice  was  sought  on  all  occasions  by 
all  sorts  of  people,  and  many  looked  upon  him  as  a  conjurer.f  He 
left  a  fortune  of  fifteen  hundred  pounds.  Sixty  years  after  his 
death,  when  the  son  of  Benjamin  Franklin  heard  the  history  of  his 
Uncle  Thomas,  and  saw  in  the  county  the  evidences  of  his  ingenuity 
and  public  spirit,  he  was  struck  with  the  resemblance  to  the  char- 
acter and  career  of  his  father.  If  Uncle  Thomas,  said  he,  had  died 
on  the  day  of  my  father's  birth,  one  might  have  supposed  a  trans- 
migration. J 

John,  the  second  of  the  four  sons  of  Thomas  the  elder,  became  a 
dyer  at  Banbury  in  Oxfordshire.  Into  his  house,  at  Banbury,  he 
received  his  aged  sire  when  he  could  wield  the  hammer  no  longer, 
and  there  the  old  man  died.  Benjamin,  the  third  son,  also  a  dyer, 
was  the  scholar  of  the  family,  a  pure,  earnest,  shy,  ^nd  gentle  spirit, 
greatly  beloved  all  the  days  of  his  life,  author  of  many  a  pious 
acrostic  and  homely  psalm.  In  one  of  his  poetry  books  he  pasted 
the  hand-bill  of  his  trade.  It  is  headed  by  an  exceedingly  rude 
wood-cut,  which  represents  an  Indian  lady  walking,  one  servant 


*  "This  archdeacon,  as  I  learn  from  the  inscription  on  his  monument  in  Ecton  church,  was  also 
named  John  Palmer.  He  was  archdeacon  of  Northampton  and  rector  of  the  parish  of  Ecton.  His 
eldest  son,  who  was  also  named  John,  succeeded  him  in  the  rectorship  of  Ecton ;  and  this  son  was 
succeeded  by  a  second  son  named  Thomas.  All  of  these  have  monuments  in  Ecton  church." — 
History  and  Antiquities  of  Ecton. 

t  Franklin  to  his  wife. — Sparks,  vii.,  179. 

X  Thomas  Franklin  and  his  wife  Eleanor  lie  buried  in  Ecton  churchyard.  The  following  are 
the  inscriptions  on  their  tombstones : 

Here  lyeth  •  Here 

The  body  of  Lyeth  the  body  of 

Thomas  Franklin  Eleanor  Franklin 

who  departed  this  The  wife  of  Thomas 

Life  January  the  6  Franklin  who  departed 

Anno  Domini  1702  This  life  the  14th  of 

In  the  sixty -fifth  March  1711 

yeare  of  his  age.  In  the  77  yearo 

of  her  a.^e. 


2^  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN. 

liolding  an  umbrella  over  her  head,  and  another  carrying  her  train, 
Underneath  are  the  following  words  : 

WRought  Things,  Printed 
Englijli  or  India  Calico's ; 
Cloth,  Silk,  and  StufF,  Scoured  ; 
Linen,  Cloth,  Silk,  and  StufF, 
Dyed,  Printed,  or  Watred  ; 

AND 

iBlack  oriotf),  Silk,  ani  0tuff, 

Dyed  into  Colours ; 

BY 

Benjamin   Franklin, 

At   the  Indian  ^een  in  Princes- 
Street  near  Leicester-Fields.'^ 

*  To  Dr.  Nathaniel  B.  ShurtleflF,  of  Boston,  I  was  indebted  for  a  sight  of  Uncle  Benjamin's 
poetry  book,  and  for  the  extracts  which  I  wished  from  it. 


franklin's  father  and  mother.  25 


CHAPTER  n. 

franklin's  father  and  mother. 

The  prosperity  of  Thomas  Franklin,  by  raising  the  family  above 
its  hereditary  rank,  was  probably  the  cause  of  its  extinction  in  Ecton. 
It  is  not  certain  that  any  smith  of  the  family  succeeded  to  the  an- 
cient forge,  though  a  son  of  Thomas  appears  to  have  inherited  the 
little  estate  of  thirty  acres  and  the  stone  dwelling-house.  The  rec- 
ords of  Ecton  show  that  tl^e  house  and  land  were  sold  in  1740  to 
the  lord  of  the  manor,  and  that  the  house  was  then  used  for  a  village 
school. 

In  1766,  when  Dr.  Franklin  visited  the  home  of  his  forefathers, 
he  found  a  Thomas  Franklin  living  in  Leicestershire  in  impoverish- 
ed circumstances,  to  whose  maintenance  he  contributed  for  some 
years,  and,  in  eifect,  adopted  his  only  child,  Sally.  The  old  home- 
stead was  standing  as  late  as  the  time  of  the  American  Revolution, 
but  no  trace  of  it  now  remains,  and  no  Franklin  dwells  in  the  parish. 
The  site  of  the  house,  however,  is  shown  to  inquiiing  strangers,  and 
Ecton,  we  are  told,  values  itself  upon  having  been  the  residence  of 
Dr.  Franklin's  ancestors.*  The  Tithes  Book  informs  us  that,  two 
hundred  years  ago,  there  was  a  public  house  at  Ecton  culled  the 
World's  End.  There  is  still  in  the  parish,  a  public  house  of  that 
name.  The  village  is,  to  this  day,  a  quiet,  sequestered  nook,  con- 
taining about  700  inhabitants. 

John  Franklin,  dyer,  of  Banbury,  was  probably  as  thriving  a 
man,  in  his  way,  as  his  brother  Thomas ;  for,  besides  entertaining 
his  aged  father  in  his  house,  he  drew  away,  first,  his  brother  Benja- 
min, and  afterward,  his  brother  Josiah,  to  learn  his  trade. 

Josiah  Franklin,  father  of  Dr.  Franklin,  was  born  at  Ecton,  in 
1655.  Having  learned  the  trade  of  dyer,  he  established  himself  in 
that  business  at  Banbury,  and  was  married  there,  about  his  twenty- 

♦  "  History  and  Antiquities  of  Ecton." 

2 


26  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FllANKLIN. 

first  year.  His  brother  Benjamin  married,  at  the  same  town,  "  the 
daughter  of  a  clergyman."  These  two  brothers,  apprenticed  and 
wedded  in  Banbury,  were  brothers  indeed;  they  cherished  for 
each  other  an  affection  which  time  and  distance  never  cooled. 
Three  children  were  born  to  Josiah  in  Banbury :  Elizabeth,  born 
March  2,  1678;  Samuel,  born  May  16,  1681  ;  and  Hannah,  born 
May  25,  1783.* 

Charles  H.  was  king  of  England  then  ;  the  mean  and  profligate 
corrupter  of  his  realm  ;  promoter  of  false  priests  and  persecutor  of 
honest  ones.  Josiah  Franklin  and  Benjamin,  his  well-beloved,  and 
they  alone,  as  it  appears,  of  all  their  family,  espoused  the  cause  of 
the  expelled  pastors,  abandoned  the  Church  of  England,  and  attend- 
ed the  Conventicles.  The  Conventicles  were  forbidden  by  law, 
were  often  disturbed,  and  to  attend  them  placed  a  tradesman  under 
the  ban  of  the  class  whose  good-will  was  most  advantageous  to  him. 
About  the  year  1685,  the  year  of  the  dissolute  tyrant's  death,  Jo- 
siah Franklin  bade  farewell  to  his  brother  Benjamin,  and  to  Eng- 
land ;  and,  with  wife  and  three  little  children,  emigrated  to  Bos- 
ton, accompanied  by  a  number  of  his  neighbors  and  fellow-dis- 
senters. 

Upon  reaching  Boston,  then  in  the  fifty-sixth  year  of  its  existence, 
and  containing  but  five  or  six  thousand  inhabitants,  Josiah  Franklin, 
finding  little  encouragement  to  practice  his  trade  of  dyer,  set  up  in 
the  business  of  tallow-chandler  and  soap-boiler.  The  name  of  Jo- 
siah Franklin  occurs  once  in  the  town  records  of  Boston,  under  the 
date  of  April  27,  1691,  when  the  town  granted  him  liberty  to 
erect  a  building  eight  feet  square,  near  the  South  Meeting-House. 
Tradesmen  were  accustomed  then  to  designate  their  places  of  busi- 
ness by  objects,  as  well  as  by  lettered  signs.  Thus,  we  learn  from 
ancient  advertisements,  that  clothing  was  sold  at  the  sign  of  the 
Anchor,  beer  at  the  sign  of  the  Mermaid,  bread  at  the  sign  of  the 
Golden  Sheaf,  and  books  at  the  sign  of  the  Bible ;  but,  generally, 
there  was  no  similarity  between  the  sign  and  the  articles  which  it 
invited  the  public  to  purchase.  To  mark  where  he  sold  his  soap 
and  candles,  Josiah  Franklin  fixed  upon  the  sign  of  the  Blue  Ball ; 
and  the  identical  ball,  of  the  size  of  a  cocoa-nut,  which  once  hung 
over  his  little  shop,  blue  no  longer,  but  bearing  the  name  Josiah 

♦  Savage's  "  G-enealogical  Dictionary  of  New  England,"  ii,  200. 


feanklin's  father  and  mother.  27 

Franklin,  and  the  date  1G98,  both  legible,  still  hangs  from  the 
corner  of  Hanover  and  Union  Streets,  in  Boston. 

A  moderate  prosperity  rewarded  his  diligence  and  skill  in  Bos- 
ton. His  family,  too,  rapidly  increased.  August  23,  1685,  was  born 
that  son,  Josiah,  who  grieved  his  father  so  keenly  by  running  away 
to  sea,  and  was  heard  of  no  more  for  many  years,  and  almost  lured 
away,  by  his  example,  his  youngest  brother,  Benjamin.  Ann  fol- 
lowed,  born  January  5,  1687.     Then,  Joseph,  born  February  6, 

1688,  who  died  in  infancy.     Next,  another  Joseph,  born  June  30, 

1689.  'Soon  after  the  birth  of  their  seventh  child,  when  Josiah 
Franklin  was  thirty-five  years  old,  his  wife  died,  leaving  to  his  care 
six  children,  the  eldest  being  eleven  years  of  age. 

A  young  man,  in  such  circumstances,  with  nothing  but  his  own 
industry  to  depend  upon  for  the  support  of  his  little  brood,  must 
make  haste  to  find  another  mother  for  them.  Josiah  Franklin  did  so. 
He  could  not  wait  the  customary  year,  but  married  so  soon  after  the 
death  of  his  wife,  that  the  first  child  of  his  second  spouse  was  born 
eighteen  months  after  the  birth  of  the  first  wife's  last.  His  choice 
fell  upon  Abiah,  youngest  daughter  of  Peter  Folger,  one  of  the 
first  settlers  of  the  Island  of  Nantucket.  Abiah  Folger  was  twen- 
ty-two years  of  age  wEen"sEe"gave  lier  hand  to  the  tallow-chandler 
of  the  Blue  Ball. 

Of  Peter  Folger  we  may  truly  say,  that  he  was  worthy  to  be  the 
grandfather  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  He  is  described  by  a  contem- 
porary as  "  a  learned  and  godly  Englishman,"  who  acquired  some 
of  the  Indian  langunges,  and  was  much  employed  in  teaching  the 
Indian  youth  to  read  and  write  ;  well  skilled  also  in  surveying,  and 
thus  of  great  use  to  the  colony  in  marking  boundaries  and  Inying  out 
settlements.  But  he  was  still  more  honorably  distinguished.  He 
was  one  of  the  few  of  the  early  settlers  of  Massachusetts  who  felt 
the  iniquity  of  persecuting  the  Baptists  and  Quakers  for  opinion's 
sake ;  and  he  lifted  his  voice  against  that  vulgar  heathenism.  It 
was  in  the  dark  era  of  1676,  when  Quakers  and  Baptists  were  still 
in  peril  of  being  pubficly  whipped,  pilloried  and  branded,  and  ban- 
ished into  the  wilderness,  that  honest  Peter  Folger  wrote  his  rude 
doggerel  poem,  "  A  Looking-Glass  for  the  Times,"  in  which  those 
outrages  were  pronounced  to  be  the  sin  of  New  England,  for  wliich 
a  just  God  was  visiting  her  with  Indian  wars  and  massacres.  Saith 
Peter : 


28  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN. 

"  Let  US  then  search  what  is  the  sin 

that  God  doth  punish  for  ? 
-  And  when  found  out,  cast  it  away, 

and  ever  it  abhor. 

"  Sure,  'tis  not  chiefly  for  those  sins 
that  magistrates  do  name. 
And  make  good  laws  for  to  suppress, 
and  execute  the  same. 

"  But  'tis  for  that  same  crying  sin, 
that  rulers  will  not  own, 
And  that  whereby  much  cruelty 
to  brethren  hath  been  shown. 

"  The  sin  of  persecution 
such  laws  estabHshed, 
By  which  laws  they  have  gone  so  far 
as  blood  hath  touched  blood. 

"  It  is  now  forty  years  ago 

since  some  of  them  were  made. 
Which  was  the  ground  and  rise  of  all 
the  persecuting  trade. 

"  Then  many  worthy  persons  were 
banished  to  the  woods. 
Where  they  among  the  natives  did 
lose  their  most  precious  bloods. 

"  And  since  that  many  godly  men 
have  been  to  prison  sent. 
They  have  been  fined  and  whipped  also, 
and  suffered  banishment. 

"  The  cause  of  all  this  suffering  ^ 

was  not  for  any  sin, 
But  for  the  witness  that  they  bare 
against  babe  sprinlding." 

This  persecution  he  attributes  to  the  influence  of  "  the  tribe  of  min- 


franklin's  father  and  mother  29 

isters,"  who,  he  says,  are  "  the  eyes"  through  which  "  our  magis- 
trates" see.    He  then  addresses  this  persecuting  tribe  of  ministers : 

"  I  see  you  write  yourselves  in  print, 
the  Balm  of  Gilead ; 
Then  do  not  act  as  if  you  were 
like  men  that  are  half  mad. 

"  If  you  can  heal  the  land,  what  is 
the  cause  things  are  so  bad  ? 
I  think,  instead  of  that,  you  make 
the  hearts  of  people  sad. 

"  Is  this  a  time  for  you  to  press, 
to  draw  the  blood  of  those 
That  are  your  neighbors  and  your  friends  ? 
as  if  you  had  no  foes. 

"  Yea,  some  there  are,  as  I  have  heard, 
have  lately  found  out  tricks 
To  put  the  cause  of  all  the  war 
upon  the  heretics. 

"  Or  rather  on  some  officers, 
that  now  begin  to  slack 
The  execution  of  those  laws, 
whose  consequence  is  black. 

"  I  do  affirm  to  you,  if  that 
be  really  your  mind. 
You  must  go  turn  another  leaf, 
before  that  peace  you  find." 

But,  then,  the  prudent  Peter  would  not  be  misunderstood.     Ho 
was  much  in  favor  of  law  and  order : 

"  I  would  not  have  you  for  to  think, 
tho'  I  have  wrote  so  much, 
That  I  hereby  do  tlirow  a  stone 
•  at  magistrates,  as  such. 


'80  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN. 

"  The  rulers  in  the  country,  I 
do  own  them  in  the  Lord  ; 
And  such  as  are  for  government, 
with  them  I  do  accord. 

"  But  that  which  I  intend  hereby, 
is,  that  they  would  keep  bounds, 
And  meddle  not  with  God's  worship, 
for  which  they  have  no  ground. 


"  There's  work  enough  to  do  besides, 
to  judge  in  mine  and  thine  ; 
To  succor  poor  and  fatherless, 
that  is  the  work  in  fine."* 

These  liberal  and  just  sentiments,  expressed  in  the  homely  man- 
ner of  the  time,  were  years  in  advance  of  public  opinion,  though 
Peter  assures  us  that  "  hundreds"  of  the  people  of  Massachusetts 
were  of  the  same  mind  as  himself  Dr.  Franklin  was  proud  to 
reckon  among  his  progenitors  a  man  capable  of  thus  rebuking 
his  generation,  and  he  quoted  some  of  Peter  Folger's  roughest 
verses,  with  approbation. 

A  tallow-chandler  of  thirty-four,  with  six  young  children,  would 
have  been  an  ill  match  for  a  young  lady  of  twenty-two,  the  daugh- 
ter of  an  honored  scholar,  if  that  tallow-chandler  had  not  been  a 
man  to  make  it  worth  a  woman's  while  to  undergo,  for  his  sake, 
unusual  care  and  toil.  Josiah  Franklin  was  handsome,  agreeable, 
accomplished,  and  wise.  He  was  of  medium  stature,  well  formed, 
very  strong,  agile,  and  expert.  His  "  limbs  were  made  in  Eng- 
land." He  could  draw  prettily,  had  some  skill  in  playing  the  vio- 
lin, and  his  voice  in  singing  was  sonorous, and  pleasing.  At  the 
close  of  the  day,  when  his  labor  was  done,  he  would  take  his  violin 
and  accompany  himself  while  he  sang  to  his  family  the  homely 
songs  and  hymns  of  his  native  land.  The  melody  of  his  voice  and 
violin  sounded  pleasantly  through  all  the  long  life  of  his  son,  who 
recalled  those  evening  scenes  at  home  to  the  last  of  his  days.     He 

*  The  whole  of  this  poem,  numbering  more  than  a  hundred  stanzas,  is  printed  ia  "  Duyckinck''s 
Cyclopedia  of  American  Literature,"      i,  53.  * 


31 

had  an  active,  inquiring,  genial  mind,  loved  to  see  intelligent  friends 
at  his  tabic,  and  took  great  pleasure  in  conversation.  Known  to  be 
a  prudent,  sincere,  and  friendly  man,  his  advice  was  much  sought 
by  his  neighbors,  as  well  as  by  leading  men  concerned  in  the  aftairs 
of  tlie  town  and  the  church.  He  was  a  genuine  Franklin,  blithe, 
prudent,  and  steadfast.  So  Abiah  Folger  took  him  and  her  share 
of  the  responsibilities  of  the  Blue  Ball.  The  daughter  of  Peter 
Folger,  we  may  imagine,  would  be  attracted  rather  than  deterred, 
by  the  prospect  of  honorable  labor.  She  proved  a  helpmeet  to  her 
husband,  a  mother  to  his  children,  and  lent,  I  doubt  not,  a  dex- 
trous female  hand  in  the  shop  on  "  melting  days." 

Ten  children  were  the  fruit  of  their  union :  John,  born  in  Decem- 
ber, 1690;  Peter,  born  November  22,  1692;  Mary,  born  Septem- 
ber 22,  1694  ;  James,  born  February  4,  1697  ;  Sarah,  born  July  9, 
1699;  Ebenezer,  born  September  20,  1701,  who  died  in  infancy; 
Thomas,  born  December  7,  1 703 ;  Benjamin,  born  January  6  (old 
style),  1706;  Lydia,  born  August  3,  1706;  Jane,  born  March  27, 
1712,  the  pet  and  beauty  of  the  family,  Benjamin's  favorite  sister, 
his  correspondent  for  sixty  years.* 

It  is  probable  that  Benjamin  Franklin  derived  from  his  mother 
the  fashion xjfJiis  body  and  the  cast  of  his  countenance.  There  are 
lineal  descendants  of  Peter  Folger  whio  strikingly  resemble  Frank- 
lin in  these  particulars ;  one  of  whom,  a  banker  of  New  Orleans, 
looks  like  a  portrait  of  Dr.  Franklin  stepped  out  of  its  frame.  But 
there  the  resemblance  ends ;  for  that  poor  rich  old  man,  unmindful 
of  his  noble  ancestry,  is  a  bigot  of  slavery,  having  established  a 
newspaper  in  1862  solely  to  defend  it. 

1 706,  the  year  of  Benjamin  Franklin's  birth,  was  the  fourth  of 
the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  and  the  year  of  Marlborough's  victory 
at  Ramillies.  Pope  was  then  a  sickly  dwarf,  four  feet  high  and 
nineteen  years  of  age,  writing,  at  his  father's  cottage  in  Windsor 
Forest,  the  Pastorals  which,  in  1709,  gave  him  his  first  celebrity. 
Voltaire  was  a  boy  of  ten,  in  his  native  village  near  Paris.  Boling- 
broke  was  a  rising  young  member  of  the  House  of  Commons,  noted, 
like  Fox  at  a  later  day,  for  his  dissipation  and  his  oratory.  Addi- 
son, aged  thirty-four,  had  written  his  Italian  travels,  but  not  the 
"  Spectator,"  and  was  a  thriving  politician.     Newton,  at  sixty-four, 

*  "Savage's  Genealogical  Dictionary  of  New  England,"  ii.  200. 


32  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l706. 

his  great  work  all  done,  was  roaster  of  the  Mint ;  had  been  knighted 
the  year  before,  and  elected  President  of  the  Royal  Society  in  1703. 
The  grandfather  of  Goethe  had  just  ceased  to  be  a  Frankfort  tailor, 
and  become  a  Frankfort  innkeeper.  Louis  XIY.  was  King  of 
France,  and  the  first  Kmg  of  Prussia  was  reigning.  The  father  of 
George  Washington  was  a  Virginia  boy  of  ten ;  the  father  of  John 
Adams  was  just  entering  Harvard  College;  and  the  father  of 
Thomas  Jeflferson  was  not  yet  born. 


CHAPTER  m. 

UNCLE   BENJAMIN   AND    HIS   ACROSTICS. 

Franklin  was  born  on  a  Sunday.  The  family  lived  then  in  Milk 
Street,  opposite  the  Old  South  Church,  within  twenty  yards  of  the 
church  door.  So  the  thankful  father  carried  his  new-born  son 
across  the  street  the  same  day,  and  had  hira  baptized  by  the  pastor. 
Dr.  Willard;  perhaps,  even  then,  dedicating  the  tithe  of  his  sons 
to  the  service  of  the  Church.  He  named  him  Benjamin,  in  honor  of 
his  brother  over  the  sea,  the  dyer  of  Leicester  Fields.  The  record 
of  his  birth  in  the  town  register,  and  that  of  his  baptism  on  the 
books  of  the  Old  South  Church,  are  still  shown. 

Soon  after  the  birth  of  Benjamin,  his  father  removed  to  a  house 
at  the  corner  of  Hanover  and  Union  Streets,  where  he  lived  the 
rest  of  his  life.  It  was  a  small,  but  decent  and  comfortable,  dwell- 
ing of  wood. 

It  is  an  advantage  to  a  child  to  be  reared  in  a  numerous  family. 
There  is  less  danger  of  his  being  spoiled.  There  are  more  to  love 
him,  and  he  has  more  to  love.  He  learns  early  to  consider  himself 
as  only  one  joerson  among  manyf  and  he  is  constantly  reminded  that 
others,  as  well  as  himself,  have  feelings,  desires,  and  rights.  Benja- 
min Franklin  could  recollect  seeing  twelve  brothers  and  sisters  at 
his  father's  table,  all  of  whom  grew  to  maturity  and  became  pa- 
rents. Both  he  and  his  sister  Jane  bore  testimony  to  the  happiness 
of  their  early  home.  "  It  was,  indeed,  a  lowly  dwelling,"  wrote 
she,  "  we  were  brought  up  in,  but  we  were  fed  plentifully,  made 
comfortable  with   fire  and   clothing,   had   seldom   any  contention 


1706]  U?^CLE    BE>fJAMIX   AND    HIS    ACROSTICS.  33 

among  us ;  but  all  was  harmony,  especially  between  the  heads,  and 
they  were  universally  respected."*  Benjamin  tells  us,  that  his 
father,  full  as  his  table  was,  liked  to  have  in  the  circle  of  yoiuig 
faces  a  sensible  friend,  with  whom  he  could  converse  on  some  in- 
genious or  useful  topic,  which  might  tend  to  improve  the  minds  of 
his  children.  Neither  father  nor  mother,  he  adds,  ever  had  any 
sickness  until  many  years  after  all  their  children  were  settled  in 
life.  In  many  passages  in  his  letters  he  testifies  to  the  cheerfulness 
and  freedom  that  prevailed  in  the  home  of  his  childhood.  Indeed, 
most  men  who  have  been  noted  for  a  disposition  to  see  things  in  a 
favorable  light,  a  turn  of  mind  which  Hume  says  it  is  more  happy 
to  possess  than  to  be  born  to  an  estate  of  ten  thousand  a  year,  were 
the  offspring  of  parents  who  were  happy  in  one  another,  and  who, 
therefore,  receiYed  their  children  with  welcome,  and  reared  them 
with  cheery  fbndness.  Such  men  are  more  likely  than  others  to 
have  the  gift  of  life  in  its  completeness ;  and  all  unimpaired  life  is 
joyous. 

While  Josiah  Franklin  had  been  prospering  in  Boston,  these 
twenty-five  years,  his  brother  Benjamin  had  been  enduring  heavy 
sorrows  and  sore  misfortunes  in  London.  He  had  had  ten  children, 
but  all  of  them  had  died  but  one  son,  Samuel,  and  he  Avas  leaving 
him  for  the  land  of  promise,  New  England.  His  wife,  too,  died, 
and  he  had  not  prospered  in  business.  But  he  kept  a  stout  and 
cheerful  heart  through  all ;  finding  solace,  hke  Cicero  and  Livy,  in 
such  literature  as  was  within  his  grasp.  He  was  a  great  collector 
of  pamphlets,  which  he  preserved  in  bound  volumes,  and  took  down 
in  short-hand  the  sermons  of  his  favorite  preachers,  Avhich  he  pre- 
served in  the  same  manner.  He  was  much  addicted  to  singing  the 
events  of  his  time  and  family  in  rhyme,  of  about  the  quality  of 
Peter  Folger  s  "  Looking-Glass."  A  man  he  was  of  many  homely 
gifts  and  graces,  abounding  in  love  for  his  relatives  and  friends ;  but 
wanting  in  those  traits  which  enable  a  dissenter,  in  troublous 
times,  to  avoid  the  consequences  of  holding  unpopular  opinions. 
He  was  too  much  of  a  politician  for  his  own  good,  thought  his 
great  namesake. 

Bereaved  thus  of  wife  and  children,  the  lonely  old  man  heard, 
with  great  satisfaction,  that  there  was  a  httle  Benjamin  Franklin, 

*  "  Letters  to  Benjamin  Franklin  from  his  Family  and  Friends,"  p.  160. 
9* 


34  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [1710. 

on  the  other  side  of  the  ocean,  so  named  after  himself.  He  took 
great  interest  in  the  boy,  and  was  one  of  his  first  instructors. 
Young  Benjamin,  as  we  shall  see,  derived  only  a  very  insignificant 
part  of  his  education  from  schools.  He  was  educated  by  his  pure 
and  happy  Home,  by  Boston,  by  the  events  of  his  time,  by  his 
father's  few  books,  and,  especially  in  his  earliest  years,  by  this  good 
old  uncle. 

We  catch  our  first  glimpses  of  the  boy  in  the  rude  poetry  of 
Uncle  Benjamin.  There  were  frequent  movements  of  troops,  ar- 
rivals of  armed  fleets,  and  erection  of  defensive  works,  at  Boston 
during  the  childhood  of  Franklin ;  England  and  France  being  at 
war,  and  Canada  a  French  province.  Benjamin,  it  seems,  took  the 
interest  in  such  proceedings  which  boys  always  do,  and  this  being 
duly  reported  to  Uncle  Benjamin,  caused  him  to  indite  a  few  lines 
for  his  nephew's  warning,  which  he  inclosed  in  his  next  letter  to 
America.  Benjamin  was  four  years  and  a  half  old  when  his  father 
read  the  lines,  "  Sent  to  him,"  so  Uncle  Benjamin  wrote,  "  upon  a 
report  of  his  inclination  to  martial  affairs"  : 

"  Believe  me,  Ben,  it  is  a  dangerous  trade, 
The  sword  has  many  marred  as  well  as  made ; 
By  it  do  many  fall,  not  many  rise — 
Makes  many  poor,  few  rich,  and  fewer  wise; 
Fills  towns  with  ruin,  fields  with  blood ;  beside 
'Tis  sloth's  maintainer,  and  the  shield  of  pride. 
Fair  cities,  rich  to-day  in  plenty  flow, 
War  fills  with  want  to-morrow,  and  with  woe. 
Ruined  estates,  the  nurse  of  vice,  broke  limbs  and  scars, 
Are  the  effects  of  desolating  wars." 

A  very  compact  epitome  of  the  evils  of  war.  Dr.  Franklin  him- 
self, who  inherited  the  family  propensity  for  rhyming,  and  the 
family  inability  to  rhyme  well,  could  hardly  have  done  it  better. 

Only  eight  days  after  writing  these  lines,  Uncle  Benjamin,  who 
probably  sent  something,  in  prose  or  verse,  to  his  little  nephew  by 
every  ship,  wrote  an  acrostic  on  his  name,  which  consisted  of  the 
good  advice  which  uncles  of  that  age  were  accustomed  to  give  their 
nephews : 


1711. J  franklin's  father  and  mother.  35 

"  Be  to  thy  parents  an  obedient  son  ;     ■ 
Each  day  let  duty  constantly  be  done : 
Never  give  way  to  sloth,  or  lust,  or  pride, 
If  free  you'd  be  from  thousand  ills  beside ; 
Above  all  ills  be  sure  avoid  the  shelf 
Man's  danger  lies  in,  Satan,  sin,  and  self. 
In  virtue,  learning,  wisdom,  progress  make ; 
Ne'er  shrink  at  suffering  for  thy  Saviour's  sake. 

"  Fraud  and  all  falsehood  in  thy  dealings  flee, 
Religious  always  in  thy  station  be ; 
Adore  the  Maker  of  thy  inward  part, 
Now's  the  accepted  time,  give  him  thy  heart ; 
Keep  a  good  conscience,  'tis  a  constant  friend, 
Like  judge  and  witness  this  thy  acts  attend, 
In  heart  with  bended  knee,  alone,  adore 
None  but  the  Three  in  One  for  evermore." 

When  the  boy  was  five  years  old  occurred  the  great  fire  of  Bos- 
ton, which  laid  the  heart  of  the  town  in  ruins,  deprived  of  shelter, 
at  the  beginning  of  winter,  a  hundred  and  ten  families,  and  caused 
the  death  of  seven  or  eight  persons  ;  "  the  occasion  of  which,"  says 
an  old  chronicler,  "  is  said  to  have  been  by  the  careless  sottishness 
of  a  woman  who  suffered  a  flame  which  took  the  oakum,  the  pull- 
ing whereof  was  her  business,  to  gain  too  far  before  it  could  be 
mastered."  No  harm  befell  the  home  of  the  Franklins,  and  their 
happy  escape  furnished  a  theme  for  Uncle  Benjamin's  muse.  A 
year  after  the  dread  event,  a  ship  from  Europe  brought  to  Josiah 
Franklin  an  acrostic  on  his  name,  in  which  his  brother  celebrated 
the  escape  of  him  and  his  from  the  fire.  Imagine  the  father  read- 
ing this  pious  ditty  to  his  family  at  tea-time,  rosy  Ben,  aged  six, 
listening  with  open  mouth,  in  his  high  chair : 


AN  ACROSTIC  HYMN  OF  PRAISE. 

Sent  071  the  22 d  September,  1712. 

"  I  come.  Dear  Lord  before  thy  Throne, 
A  Grateful  Monument  to  raise  ; 


LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [l7l2. 

And  There  upon  my  thankful  stone, 

To  Write  thy  Love  and  sing  thy  Praise. 

"  O,  may  it  Ne'er  Forgotten  be, 

That  all  along,  I've  been  thy  care, 
And  Now  my  God  did  Think  on  me. 
And  mine  from  Flames  preserved  are.     , 

"  Sons,  Daughters,  Brother,  Sisters  all, 

Joyne  With  us  in  this  Great  Address ; 
And  on  one  kind  preserver  call, 

Who  saved  us  when  in  Great  Distress. 

"  In  unrelenting  Flames  for  sin, 

God's  much  provoked  Anger  Rose, 
But  Tender  Mercy  stept  between 
Us,  and  his  Justice  did  oppose. 

"  Ah !  hateful.    Thy  promis'd  sweet, 
To  Colaquintida  is  Turn'd  ; 
Thy  Sad  Effects  in  every  street. 

We  see  to  heaps  of  Rubbish  Burn'd. 

"  Had  not  the  Lord,  Now  may  we  say. 

Had  not  the  Lord  Great  pitty  shown ; 
Like  Sodom  on  that  Dreadful  Day, 

We'ed  been  Destroyed  and  overthrown. 

"  Fear  seized  upon  us  and  a  Flame, 

Our  minds  and  Dwellins  did  Surprise: 
Resistless,  Giant-like  it  came. 

Wealth  wing'd  away  toward  the  skyes. 

"  Rouze  up  my  Soule,  Take  Wing,  too,  Fly  ; 

Leave  here  Thy  Dust  that  turns  to  smoke, 
With  Swifter  speed  surmount  the  Sky, 
Earth  only  serves  to  blind  and  choak. 

"  Awake  my  Glory  and  my  Heart, 

Shake  off  Dull  Sloth,  my  better  powers, 


1713.]  franklin's    FATHER   AND   MOTHER.  87 

And  every  member  doe  your  part 
In  praising  this  Great  God  of  ours. 

"  None  in  the  spacious  Regions  High, 

With  his  perfections  may  compare  ; 
Nor  any  Works  beneath  the  Sky, 
That  Like  our  Great  Creator's  are. 

"  King's  Haughty  pride  He  Does  Abase, 
And  Levels  Cities  with  the  Ground  ; 
And  Earthly  Glory  Does  Deface, 

And  Worldly  Wisdom  Quite  Confound. 

"  Let  all  both  High  and  Low  Revere, 
This  Higher  Majesty,  and  own 
Him  Sovereign  Ruler  Ev'ry  where, 
With  Low  prostrations  at  his  Throne. 

"  I  am  a  Brand  pluck'd  out  imharm'd  ; 
And  for  this  Favour  Now  in  part : 
I  with  my  Tongue  here  in  my  Song, 
Doe  offer  up  a  Flameing  Heart. 

"  Not  unto  me,  Lord,  Not  to  us, 

But  to  thy  Holy  Name  always  : 
For  Great  Salvation  Wrought  out  Thus, 
Accept  an  Ardent  Love  and  praise." 

These  frequent  arrivals  of  verse  from  Uncle  Benjamin  which, 
doubtless,  were  duly  extolled  in  the  family  and  handed  ,about 
among  friends,  inspired  the  boy,  at  length,  to  attempt  a  return  in 
kind.  At  the  age  of  seven,  he  wrote  something,  perhaps  a  letter, 
with  a  few  lines  of  doggerel,  which  called  forth  a  joyful  response 
from  his  uncle : 

"  'T  is  time  for  me  to  throw  aside  my  pen. 

When  hanging  sleeves  read,  write,  and  rhyme  like  men, 

This  forward  spring  foretells  a  plenteous  crop  ; 

For,  if  the  bud  bear  grain,  what  will  the  top  ! 

If  plenty  in  the  verdant  blade  appear. 

What  may  we  not  soon  hope  for  in  the  ear ! 


8B  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OP   BEN^JAMIISr   FRANKLIN.  [1713. 

When  flowers  are  beautiful  before  they  're  blown, 

What  rarities  will  afterward  be  shown. 

If  trees  good  fruit  un'noculated  bear, 

You  may  be  sure  't  will  afterward  be  rare. 

If  fruits  are  sweet  before  they've  time  to  yellow, 

How  luscious  will  they  be  when  they  are  mellow ! 

If  first  years'  shoots  such  noble  clusters  send. 

What  laden  boughs,  Engedi-like,  may  we  expect  in  end  !"* 

The  quickening  and  educating  effect  upon  a  boy  of  such  a  corre- 
spondence as  this,  continued  until  he  was  nine  years  old,  would  be 
noticeable  if  the  boy  were  a  blockhead  ;  hovv^  great  its  value  to  a 
young  Franklin,  large-brained,  inquisitive,  humorous  !  It  was 
much  for  him  even  to  know  that  there  was  a  good  old  man  in  old 
England  who  cared  for  him.  If  an  abstract  proposition  were  allow- 
able here,  we  might  venture  the  remark,  that  a  good  uncle  is  a 
capital  thing  for  a  boy  to  have.  Not  less  useful,  but  often  more 
so,  is  a  good  aunt.  Such  relations  can  do  some  services  for  chil- 
dren better  than  their  parents  can,  and  their  peculiar  influence  is 
essential  to  perfect  breeding. 

One  incident  of  Franklin's  childhood  is  familiar  to  all  the  world. 
"When  I  was  a  child  of  seven  years  old,"  he  wrote,  sixty-six  years 
after  the  event,  "  my  friends,  on  a  hoHday,  filled  my  pockets  with 
coppers.  I  went  directly  to  a  shop  where  they  sold  toys  for  chil- 
dren ;  and  being  charmed  with  the  sound  of  a  whistle^  that  I  met  by 
the  way  in  the  hands  of  another  boy,  I  voluntarily  offered  and  gave 
all  my  money  for  one.  I  then  came  home,  and  went  whistling  all 
over  the  house,  much  pleased  with  my  whistle^  but  disturbing  all 
the  family.  My  brothers,  and  sisters,  and  cousins,  understanding 
the  bargain  I  had  made,  told  me  I  had  given  four  times  as  much  for 
it  as  it  was  worth ;  put  me  in  mind  what  good  things  I  might  have 
bought  with  the  rest  of  the  money ;  and  laughed  at  me  so  much 
for  my  folly,  that  I  cried  with  vexation ;  and  the  reflection  gave  me 
more  chagrin  than  the  whistle  gave  me  pleasure. 

"  This,  however,  was  afterward  of  use  to  me,  the  impression 
continuing  on  my  mind ;  so  that  often,  when  I  was  tempted  to 
buy  some  unnecessary  thing,  I  said  to  myself,  DonH  give  too  much 

*  Sparks,  i.,  640. 


AGED  1.]  franklin's  FATHER  AND  MOTHER.  39 

for  the  whistle ;  and  I  saved  my  money."  With  other  reflections 
printed  in  numberless  school  books. 

An  anecdote  is  preserved  of  Benjamin's  minnow-fishing  days. 
Tiiere  was  a  marsh  in  the  outskirts  of  Boston,  on  the  edge  of 
which  the  boy  and  his  friends  used  to  fish  at  high  tide  for  min. 
nows.  By  much  trampling  the  spot  having  been  made  a  mere 
quagmire,  Benjamin  proposed  to  construct  a  wharf  for  the  boys  to 
stand  upon,  and  pointed  out  a  large  heap  of  stones,  intended  for  a 
new  house  near  by,  which,  he  said,  would  answer  their  purpose  per- 
fectly. Accordingly,  in  the  evening,  when  the  workmen  were  gone 
home,  he  assembled  his  playfellows,  and  very  soon  the  wharf  was 
completed.  Complaints,  detection,  and  punishment  quickly  follow- 
ed. In  vain  did  Benjamin  demonstrate  to  his  father  the  utility  of 
the  measure.  His  father,  he  says,  convinced  him,  that  that  which 
is  not  honest  cannot  be  truly  useful.  Perhaps  the  idea  of  this 
structure  was  suggested  to  the  youngster's  mind  by  the  building  of 
the  Long  Wharf  of  Boston,  which,  after  being  talked  of  for  some 
years,  was  ordered  to  be  built  in  1710. 

Benjamin,  besides  being  the  tithe  of  his  father's  sons,  showed 
from  his  earliest  childhood  a  remarkable  fondness  for  reading ;  and 
these  two  considerations  induced  his  father  to  dedicate  him  to  the 
service  of  the  Church ;  a  resolution  which  had  the  hearty  concur- 
rence of  Uncle  Benjamin,  who  offered  to  set  him  up  with  his  vol- 
umes of  short-hand  sermons.  His  brothers  were  all  put  to  trades, 
except  Josiah,  who  ran  away  to  sea  when  Benjamin  was  an  infant, 
and  had  never  been  heard  of  since.  At  the  age  of  eight  years, 
Benjamin  was  placed  at  the  Boston  Grammar  School.  In  less  than 
a  year,  he  rose  to  the  head  of  his  class,  and  was  promised  other 
promotion,  but  before  the  year  came  to  a  close,  his  father  dis- 
covered that  he  had  undertaken  too  much  for  one  with  his  narrow 
means  and  large  family.  He  was  of  opinion,  too,  that  young  men 
educated  for  the  ministry  were  poorly  compensated  for  their  labor 
in  America ;  but  he  may  have  made  this  observation  in  the  hearing 
of  the  boy,  to  reconcile  him  to  his  removal  from  the  Latin  school. 
Benjamin  was  next  sent  to  a  school  kept  by  Mr.  George  Brownwell, 
noted  for  his  skill  in  teaching  writing  and  arithmetic.  He  lenutined 
at  this  school  about  a  year,  learned  to  write  a  good  hand,  but 
failed  entirely  in  arithmetic.  At  ten  his  school  life  was  over  for- 
ever, and  be  was  taken  by  his  father  to  assist  him  in  his  business, 


40  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF- BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l7l8. 

to  cut  candle-wicks,  fill  candle-molds,  attend  the  shop,  and  run 
errands.  He  disliked  the  occupation,  and,  perhaps,  was  not  too  in- 
dustrious, for  he  tells  us  that  his  father  often  repeated  to  him  the 
maxim  of  Solomon:  "Seest  thou  a  man  diligent  in  his  calhng,  he 
shall  stand  before  kings ;  he  shall  not  stand  before  mean  men." 
Dr.  Franklin  used  to  recall  these  words  of  his  father  when,  half  a 
century  later,  he  was  in  the  habit  of  standing  before  kings.  Josiah 
Franklin  was  an  indulgent  father,  however,  and  Benjamin  still 
found  time  to  lead  the  sports  of  his  comrades,  and  to  pore  over  his 
books. 

A  New  England  boy  who  lives  near  the  coast  takes  to  the  water 
as  naturally  as  a  Newfoundland  dog.  Benjamin  became  an  adept 
in  the  management  of  boats,  and  was  usually  allowed,  he  tells  us, 
to  take  the  command,  particularly  in  cases  of  difficulty.  But  his 
great  accomplishment,  that  in  which  he  excelled  all  the  boys  of  his 
time,  if  not  of  all  times,  was  swimming.  He  was  a  wonderful 
swimmer ;  and  he  retained  a  peculiar  fondness  for  this  exercise,  as 
well  as  his  boyish  skill  in  it,  to  old  age.  The  swimming  of  the 
Hellespont  would  have  been  no  very  arduous  task  for  Franklin  at 
any  time  from  his  twelfth  to  his  sixtieth  year.  Besides  performing 
all  the  established  feats,  he  invented  two  of  his  own,  which  he  de- 
scribed in  a  letter  to  one  of  his  philosophic  friends,  late  in  life. 
"  When  I  was  a  boy,"  he  wrote,  "  I  made  two  oval  pallets,  each 
about  ten  inches  long  and  six  broad,  with  a  hole  for  the  thumb,  in 
order  to  retain  it  fast  in  the  palm  of  ray  hand.  They  much  resem- 
bled a  painter's  pallets.  In  swimming  I  pushed  the  edges  of  these 
forward,  and  I  struck  the  water  with  their  flat  surfaces  as  I  drew 
them  back.  I  remember  I  swam  faster  by  means  of  these  pallets, 
but  they  fatigued  my  wrists.  I  also  fitted  to  the  soles  of  my  feet 
a  kind  of  sandals ;  but  I  was  not  satisfied  with  them,  because  I  ob- 
served that  the  stroke  is  partly  given  by  the  inside  of  the  feet  and 
ankles,  and  not  entirely  with  the  soles  of  the  feet." 

Another  experiment  was  more  successful:  "I  amused  myself  one 
day  with  flying  a  paper  kite  ;  and  approaching  the  bank  of  a  pond, 
which  was  near  a  mile  broad,  I  tied  the  string  to  a  stake,  and  tlic 
kite  ascended  to  a  very  considerable  height  above  the  pond,  while 
I  was  swimming.  In  a  little  time,  being  desirous  of  amusing  my- 
self with  my  kite,  and  enjoy  at  the  same  time  the  pleasure  of  swim- 
ming, I  returned ;  and,  loosing  from  the  stake  the  string  with  the 


AGED  12.]       FRAXKLIN's  FATHER  AJS^D  MOTHER.  41 

little  stick  which  \^'as  fastened  to  it,  went  again  into  the  water, 
where  I  found,  that,  lying  on  my  back  and  holding  the  stick  in  my 
hands,  I  was  drawn  along  the  surface  of  the  water  in  a  very  agree- 
able manner.  Having  then  engaged  another  boy  to  carry  my 
clothes  roimd  the  pond,  to  a  place  which  I  pointed  out  to  him  on 
the  other  side,  I  began  to  cross  the  pond  with  my  kite,  which  car- 
ried me  quite  over  without  the  least  fatigue,  and  with  the  greatest 
pleasure  imaginable.  I  was  only  obliged  occasionally  to  halt  a  lit- 
tle in  my  course,  and  resist  its  progress,  when  it  appeared  that,  by 
following  too  quick,  I  lowered  the  kite  too  much :  by  doing  which 
occasionally  I  made  it  rise  again.  I  have  never  since  that  time 
practiced  this  singular  mode  of  swimming,  though  I  think  it  not 
impossible  to  cross  in  this  manner  from  Dover  to  Calais.  The 
packet-boat,  however,  is  still  preferable."* 

This  mastery  of  the  water,  together  with  his  dislike  of  his  father's 
business,  gave  him  a  hankering  for  the  sea,  of  which  all  healthy 
boys  in  New  England  have  one  attack.  ^His  iixther,  who  had  al- 
ready lost  one  son  from  that  cause,  was  earnest  in  dissuading  him. 
But  about  this  time  the  long-lost  Josiah,  from  whom  in  nine  years 
no  tidings  had  been  received,  suddenly  returned  home,  to  the  inex- 
pressible joy  of  the  whole  family.  The  fatted  calf  was  killed. 
Brothers  and  sisters,  to  the  number  of  twelve,  assembled  at  their 
father's  house  to  welcome  the  sailor,  and  hear  the  tale  of  his  adven- 
lures  in  India,  and  partake  of  the  welcoming  feast. 

Besides,  another  elder  brother,  James,  had  gone  across  the  ocfean 
recently,  and  was  then  learning  the  trade  of  a  prir\,ter  in  London — 
great  and  wonderful  London  If  A  sister,  too,  had  married  the 
captain  of  a  coasting  sloop. 

K  these  events  tended  to  strengthen  the  boy's  yearning  for  the 
sea,  there  wa^  now  another  influence  at  home  which  aided  his  father 
to  dissuade  him  from  a  sailor's  life.  Uncle  Benjamin,  in  1715,  had 
come  from  England  to  spend  his  last  years  with  his  brother  and 
with  his  own  son  Samuel.  He  was  an  inmate  of  Josiah  Franklin's 
house,  and  appears  to  have  been  one  of  the  company  assembled  at 
the  feast  of  welcome  to  the  truant  sailor.  At  least,  we  read  in  one 
of  his  volumes  of  rhyme,  the  following  lines: 

"The  Third  part  of  the  107  psalm.  Which  Follows  Next,  I 

*  Fraukliu  to  M.  Dubourg.     Sparks,  vi.,  291.  t  Thomas's  "  History  of  Printing,"  p.  307. 


42  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [I7l8, 

composed  to  sing  at  First  meeting  witli  my  Nephew  Josiah  Frank. 
lin.  But  being  unaffected  with  Gods  Great  Goodn' :  In  his  many 
preservations  and  Deliverances,  It  was  coldly  Entertaia'd  "  : 

part  107  ps. 
Those  Who  in  Forreign  Lands  converse 
By  Ships  for  Traffick  and  Commerce, 
Behold  great  Wonders  in  the  Deep 
Which  God's  prescribed  bounds  doe  keep. 

His  Mighty  Works  They  there  Discern 
And  There  his  Care  and  Kindness  Learn ; 
When  Stormy  Winds  Great  Waves  Aloft 
Doe  Raise,  He  calms  and  stills  them  oft 

To  Top  of  Mountaine  Waves  they  creep 
Then  Down  Descend  the  Dreadfull  Deep, 
Th'  Amazing  Terrours  they  sustaine, 
Disolves  their  very  Soule  with  paine 

They  stagger  Like  a  Drunkard  Who 
Bereav'd  of  sence  keels  fro'  and  Too 
Brought  Almost  to  Distraction  They 
To  God  With  fervent  cryes  doe  pray. 

Then  when  from  their  Distress  he  saves 
Comands  and  calms  Tempestuous  Waves, 
He  Stills  the  storm  and  does  Asswage 
Proud  Dreadfull  seas  Death-Threatning  Rage 

Then  they  Rejoyce  the  Tempest's  past 
And  saffe  He  brings  them  all  at  Last, 
To  Their  Soe  much  Desired  Shore 
Which  They  Despaired  of  Before 

O  Let  men  praise  this  mighty  Lord, 
And  all  his  Wondrous  Works  Record  ; 
Let  all  the  Sons  of  men,  before 
Whose  Eyes  those  Works  are  Done,  Adore. 


AGED  12.]       franklin's  FATHER  AND  MOTHER.  43 

Adore  this  God  who  did  us  Save 
From  the  much  feared  Watery  Grave 
And  softly  Set  thee  on  thy  Land 
O  Bless  his  kind  and  pow'rfull  Hand. 

The  wild  sailor  "coldly  entertained"  his  uncle's  simple  piety; 
but  over  the  younger  Benjamin  he  would  naturally  have  had  greater 
influence.  He  brought  with  him  from  England  his  volumes  of 
poetry  and  his  short-hand  sermon  books  ;  but  not,  as  we  shall  dis- 
cover by  and  by,  his  collection  of  pamphlets,  which,  probably,  he 
sold  to  help  defray  the  expenses  of-  his  voyage.  He  brought  his 
intelligent,  inquiring,  suggestive  mind,  his  quaint  humor,  his  guile- 
less heart.  He  imparted  whatever  he  had  of  knowledge  and  ac- 
complishment to  his  young  namesake ;  taught  him  his  system  ot 
short-hand,  strengthened  in  him  all  his  tendencies  toward  good,  and, 
doubtless,  placed  a  firm  and  kindly  veto  upon  the  boy's  sea-going 
scheme.  Uncle  Benjamin  lived  four  years  in  the  house  of  his 
brother  Josiah  ;  and  then,  his  son  Samuel  having  married  and 
established  a  home,  he  went  to  live  with  him.  He  died  in  1727  ; 
aged  seventy-seven.  In  an  obituary  notice  in  a  Boston  newspaper, 
be  is  spoken  of  as  "  a  person  who  was  justly  esteemed  and  beloved 
as  a  rare  and  exemplary  Christian ;"  ''  one  who  loved  the  people 
and  ministers  of  Christ ;"  whose  "  presence  in  the  House  of  God, 
was  always  solemn  and  affecting  ;"  "  who  courted  not  the  observ- 
ation of  men  ;  yet  there  were  many  who  could  not  but  take  notice 
of  and  admire  the  peculiar  excellences  that  vividly  adorned  him."* 

The  poetry  books  of  Uncle  Benjamin,  which  are  still  in  perfect 
preservation,  though  it  is  a  hundred  and  eighty  years  ago  since  he 
bought  the  first  of  them,  are  neatly  written  and  carefully  indexed. 
Many  of  the  pieces  are  acrostics,  and  several  are  curiously  shaped 
on  the  page — dwindling  or  expanding  in  various  forms,  according 
to  the  quaint  fancy  of  the  poet.  Uncle  Benjamin  lies  in  the  Granary 
Burial  Ground  in  Boston,  near  the  grave  of  his  brother  Josiah.  The 
stone  that  marks  his  last  resting-place  is  still  legible ;  but  perhaps 
some  good  Bostonians,  mindful  of  what  he  did  for  his  nephew,  will 
one  day  renew  the  stone,  as  has  been  done  with  that  which  covered 
the  remains  of  Franklin's  parents. 

*  Drake's  "  History  of  Boston,"  p.  5T4. 


44  LIFE    AND   TIMES   OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l7l8,| 


CHAPTER  ly. 

FIRST   BOOKS. 

The  boy,  as  we  have  remarked,  was  a  devouring  reader.  There 
are  those  who  read  from  infancy  to  old  age,  and,  so  far  as  their 
friends  can  discover,  learn  nothing.  There  are  those  in  whose  fer- 
tile minds  every  chance  seed  of  knowledge,  or  suggestion,  takes 
root  and  bears  fruit.  Young  Franklin  was  one  of  these.  He  had 
also,  the  knack  of  getting  from  a  book  the  one  thing  to  which  it 
owes  its  value.  ^ 

His  first  love,  as  well  as  his  first  possession,  was  Bunyan's  *'  Pil- 
grim's Progress,"  from  which  he  learned  the  charm  that  is  given  to 
narrative  by  mingling  dialogue  with  it ;  a  method  which,  he  long 
afterward  said,  is  very  engaging  to  the  reader,  who,  in  the  most 
interesting  parts,  finds  himself,  as  it  were,  admitted-  into  the  com- 
pany and  present  at  the  conversation.  Of  this  mode  of  composition, 
frequently  practiced  by  Franklin,  he  considered  Bunyan  the  origin- 
ator— Defoe  and  Richardson  being  imitators  of  Bunyan. 

He  sold  his  "Pilgrim's  Progress"  in  order  to  buy  Burton's  "His- 
torical Collections,"  in  forty  little  volumes,  famous  in  their  day,  and  ex- 
tensively sold,  both  in  America  and  England,  by  peddlers.  These 
books  contained  history,  travels,  adventures,  fiction,  natural  history, 
biography,  and  every  thing  curious  and  marvelous  which  the  com- 
piler could  discover.  "He  has  melted  down,"  says  Dunbar,  "the 
best  of  our  English  histories  into  twelve-penny  books,  which  are 
filled  with  wonders,  rarities,  and  curiosities."  Dr.  Johnson  alludes 
to  these  books  in  one  of  his  letters  :  "  There  is  in  the  world  a  set 
of  books  which  used  to  be  sold  by  the  booksellers  on  the  bridge, 
and  which  I  must  entreat  you  to  procure  me.  They  are  called 
Burton's  Books.  The  title  of  one  is  'Admirable  Curiosities,  Rar- 
ities and  Wonders  in  England.'  They  seem  very  proper  to  allure 
backward  readers."* 

The  library  of  Josiah  Franklin  contained  few  works  that  were 
not  theological ;  but  even  these  the  boy  contrived  to  read.     Plu- 

♦  Allibone's  "  Dictionary  of  Authors,"  p.  807. 


AGED    12.]  FIKST   BOOKS.  45 

t;irch's  Lives,  so  popular  once  among  young  people,  he  read  over 
and  over  again.  Robinson  Crusoe  he  just  missed — for  it  was  not 
published  till  1719,  when  it  appeared  in  a  London  periodical.  But 
Defoe's  Essay  upon  Projects,  a  household  book  at  that  time,  he  read 
with  lasting  pleasure  and  benefit.  Defoe's  Essay  upon  Projects 
tieats  of  matters  beyond  most  boys  of  twelve  ;  but  the  racy  earn- 
estness of  Defoe's  style  would  have  rendered  the  abstruseat  sub- 
jects interesting  to  a  young  Franklin.  The  projects  for  the  public 
advantage  proposed  by  Defoe,  were  of  three  kinds  :  political,  com-  ^ 
iiiercial,  and  philanthropic.  Among  the  particular  schemes  and  / 
improvements  suggested  by  the  author,  and  original  with  him,  were 
a  better  system  of  private  and  national  banking ;  better  roads ; 
improved  bankrupt  laws  ;  friendly  societies,  for  the  relief  of  mem- 
bers in  distress ;  an  asylum  for  idiots,  who  ought  to  be,  he  says,  "  a 
perpetual  rent-charge  on  the  great  family  of  mankind ;"  academies 
for  giving  instruction  in  single  branches  of  knowledge,  and  for  edu- 
cating youth  for  special  professions.  Among  his  suggestions  of  the 
kind  last  named,  are  military  academies,  and  colleges  for  girls. 
Most  of  Defoe's  leading  suggestions  have  since  been  carried  out  in 
all  the  civilized  nations  of  the  New  and  Old  World.  It  is  ques- 
tionable if  there  is  any  other  book  that  has  so  much  benefited 
mankind  in  the  practical  manner  as  this  little  essay  by  the  author 
of  Robinson  Crusoe.  -  • 

Sir  James  Mackintosh  says  :  "  Defoe  produced  Richardson,  who 
has  copied  him  in  those  minute  strokes  which  give  to  fiction  such 
an  air  of  reality.  Defoe,  and  perhaps  also  Swift,  produced  Frank- 
lin, who  applied  their  familiar  eloquence  to  moral  and  prudential 
purposes.  Paine  was  the  follower  of  Franklin  ;  but  the  calm  famil- 
iarity, and  almost  sly  pleasantry  of  the  American  Socrates  were,  in 
his  disciple,  exchanged  for  those  bold  speculations  and  fierce  invec- 
tives which  indicate  the  approach  of  civil  confusion."  *  But  Frank- 
lin learned  from  Defoe  far  more  than  the  artifices  of  his  style. 

There  was  another  little  book,  read  by  Franklin  in  boyhood,  con- 
cerning which  he  has  left  a  remarkable  testimony.  "  When  I  was  a 
boy,"  he  wrote  to  Mr.  Samuel  Mather,  in  his  eightieth  year,  "  I  met 
with  a  book  entitled  'Essays  to  do  Good,'  which  I  think  was  writ- 
ten by  your  father  (Cotton  Mather).     It  had  been  so  little  regarded 

*  "  Life  of  Sir  .Tames  Mackintosh,"  by  his  son,  xi.,  92. 


46  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN.  [1718. 

by  a  former  possessor,  that  several  leaves  of  it  were  torn  out ;  but 
the  remainder  gave  me  such  a  turn  of  thinking  as  to  have  an  influ- 
ence on  my  conduct  through  Ufe  ;  for  I  have  always  set  a  greater 
value  on  the  character  of  a  doer  of  good  than  on  any  other  kind  of 
reputation  ;  and,  if  I  have  been,  as  you  seem  to  think,  a  useful  citi- 
zen, the  public  owe  the  advantage  of  it  to  that  book."  These 
words  induced  the  Sunday  School  Society  of  Massachusetts  to  re- 
publish the  little  volume  in  1845 ;  so  that  every  one  can  now  easily 
gratify  his  curiosity  concerning  it.  It  consists  of  twenty-two  short 
essays,  which,  besides  extolling  benevolence  in  general,  give  direc- 
tions to  particular  classes  of  men,  how  to  turn  their  private  occupa- 
tions to  the  public  advantage.  There  are  suggestions  of  this  kind 
for  magistrates,  ministers,  doctors,  lawyers,  schoolmasters,  gentle- 
men, deacons,  captains  of  ships,  ladies,  husbands,  wives,  mechanics, 
and,  indeed,  all  sorts  and  conditions  of  men.  The  advancement  of 
religion,  the  author  maintains,  is  the  object  to  be  chiefly  sought  by 
all  of  these ;  but  there  are  many  quaint,  strong  passages  in  the 
book,  pointing  out  benevolent  labors  of  another  kind.  Cotton 
Mather  was  as  earnest  in  this  matter  of  doing  good  as  he  had  been 
in  hanging  the  Salem  witches.  "My  friend,"  he  says,  "place  thy- 
self in  dying  circumstances  ;  apprehend  and  realize  thy  approaching 
death.  Suppose  thy  last  hour  come;  the  decretory  hour;  thy 
breath  failing,  thy  throat  rattling,  thy  hands  with  a  cold  sweat 
upon  them,  only  the  turn  of  the  tide  expected  for  thy  expiration. 
In  this  condition,  what  wouldst  thou  wish  to  have  done  more  than 
thou  hast  already  done,  for  thy  own  soul,  for  thy  family,  or  for  the 
people  of  God  ?" 

His  last  Essay  ends  thus  :  "  Were  a  man  able  to  write  in  seven 
languages;  could  he  converse  daily  with  the  sweets  of  all  the  lib- 
eral sciences,  that  more  polite  men  ordinarily  pretend  unto ;  did  he 
entertain  himself  with  all  ancient  and  modern  histories ;  and  could 
he  feast  continually  on  the  curiosities  which  all  sorts  of  learning 
may  bring  unto  him  ;  none  of  all  this  would  aflTord  the  ravishing 
satisfaction,  much  less  would  any  grosser  delights  of  the  senses  do 
it,  which  he  might  find  in  relieving  the  distresses  of  a  poor,  mean, 
miserable  neighbor;  and  which  he  might  much  more  find  in  doing 
any  extensive  service  for  the  kingdom  of  our  great  Saviour  in  the 
world  ;  or  any  thing  to  redress  the  miseiies  under  which  mankind 
is  generally  languishing." 


AGED    12.]  FIRST   BOOKS.  47 

Elsewhere,  he  exclaims  :  "  Protestants,  why  will  you  be  outdone 
by  Popish  idolaters  ?  Oh  !  the  vast  pains  which  those  bigots  have 
taken  to  carry  on  the  Romish  merchandise  and  idolatries  t  No  less 
than  six  hundred  clergymen,  in  that  one  order  of  the  Jesuits,  did, 
within  a  few  years,  at  several  times  embark  themselves  for  China,  to 
win  over  that  mighty  nation  unto  their  bastard  Christianity.  No 
less  than  five  hundred  of  them  lost  their  lives  in  the  difficulties  of 
their  enterprise,  and  yet  the  survivors  go  on  Avith  it,  expressing  a 
sort  of  trouble  that  it  fell  not  unto  their  share  to  make  a  sacrifice 
of  their  lives  in  enterprising  the  propagation  of  religion.  '  O  my 
God,  I  am  ashamed,  and  blush  to  lift  up  my  face  unto  thee,  my 
God  !' " 

The  humor,  the  familiar  learning,  the  impetuous  earnestness,  the 
yearning  tenderness,  of  this  little  book  were  well  calculated  to  im- 
press the  mind  of  such  a  boy,  at  such  a  time.  How  exceedingly 
strange,  that  such  a  work  as  this  should  have  been  written  by  the 
man  who,  in  1692,  at  Salem,  when  nineteen  people  were  hanged, 
and  one  was  pressed  to  death  for  witchcraft,  appeared  among  the 
crowd,  openly  exulting  in  the  spectacle  !  Probably  his  zeal  against 
the  witches  was  as  much  the  offspring  of  his  benevolence  as  his 
"Essays  to  do  Good."  Concede  his  theory  of  witches,  and  it  had 
been  cruelty  to  man  not  to  hang  them.  Were  they  not  in  league 
with  Satan,  the  arch  enemy  of  God  and  man  ?  Had  they  not 
bound  themselves  by  solemn  covenant  to  aid  the  devil  in  destroying 
human  souls  and  afflicting  the  elect  ?  Cotton  Mather  had  not  the 
slightest  doubt  of  it. 

Mather  powerfully  influenced  the  boy  in  other  ways.  Samuel, 
the  son  of  Cotton,  tells  us,  in  his  life  of  his  fiither,  that  Cotton 
Mather  was  the  originator  of  a  kind  of  Neighborhood  Benefit 
Societies,  one  of  which  he  endeavored  to  form  in  each  church,  and 
to  twenty  of  which  Cotton  himself  belonged.  "He  drew  up,"  says 
his  biographer,  "  certain  '  Points  of  Consideration,'  to  be,  with  due 
Pauses,  read  in  the  Societies  every  time  they  met,  for  ajuy  to  offer 
what  Proposal  he  pleased  upon  any  of  the  points  at  the  Reading  of 
it."     These  "  Points  of  Consideration"  were  the  following  : 

1.  Is  there  any  remarkable  disorder  in  the  place,  that  requires  our 
endeavor  for  the  suppression  of  it ;  and  in  what  fair,  likely  way 
may  we  endeavor  it  ? 

2.  Is  there  any  particular  Person  whose  disorderly  Behavior  may 


48  LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF    BEXJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [l7l8. 

be  so  scandalous  and  so  notorious,  that  we  may  do  well  to  send  unto 
the  said  person  our  charitable  Admonitions  ?  Or  are  there  any  con- 
tending persons  whom  we  should  admonish,  to  quench  their  Con- 
tentions ? 

3.  Is  there  any  special  Service  to  the  Interests  of  Religion,  which 
we  may  conveniently  desire  our  Ministers  to  take  notice  of? 

4.  Is  there  any  thing  we  may  do  well  to  mention  unto  the  justices 
for  the  further  promoting  good  Order? 

5.  Is  there  any  sort  of  officers  among  us  to  such  a  Degree  un- 
mindful of  their  Duty,  that  we  may  do  well  to  mind  them  of  it  ? 

6.  Can  any  further  Methods  be  devised,  that  Ignorance  and 
Wickedness  may  be  chased  fi-om  our  People  in  general,  and  that 
Household  Piety  in  particular  may  flourish  among  them  ? 

1.  Does  there  appear  any  Instance  of  Oppression  or  Fraudulence 
in  the  Dealings  of  any  sort  of  people,  that  may  call  for  our  Essays 
to  get  it  rectified  ? 

8.  Is  there  any  matter  to  be  humbly  moved  unto  the  Legislative 
Power,  to  be  enacted  into  a  Law  for  public  Benefit  ? 

9.  Do  we  know  of  any  Person  languishing  under  sore  and  sad 
Affliction  ;  and  is  there  any  thing  we  may  do  for  the  Succor  of  such 
an  afflicted  Neighbour  ? 

10.  Has  any  Person  any  Proposal  to  make  for  our  own  further 
Advantage  and  Assistance,  that  we  ourselves  may  be  in  a  probable 
and  regular  Capacity  to  pursue  the  Intention  before  us  ?* 

Here  we  see  the  origin  of  the  Junto,  the  famous  club  founded 
by  Franklin  in  Philadelphia  in  1730.  These  benefit  societies,  of 
which  Boston  contained  several,  were  sure  to  enlist  such  a  man  as 
Josiah  Franklin,  and  we  may  be  certain  that  his  son  Benjamin  often 
attended  the  meetings,  listened  to  the  questions,  and  waited,  breath- 
less, during  the  due  pause  between  each,  for  tjhe  interesting  replies- 
Such  a  boy  takes  note  of  every  thing,  forgets  nothing,  and  brings 
into  play,  in  after-life,  the  unconscious  gath(>rings  of  his  childhood. 
The  childhood  of  a  thoughtful  man  never  ceases  to  instruct  him. 

The  "  Boston  Newsletter,"  established  two  years  before  Franklin's 
bh'tl),  the  only  newspaper  in  America  till  he  was  thirteen  years  old, 
could  not  have  been  overlooked  by  an  eager  and  intelligent  boy. 
It  was  a  coarse,  dingy  sheet,  about  as  large  as  a  sheet  of  the  fools- 

*  "Life  of  (Jotton  Mather,"  by  his  son,  Samuel  Mather;  Boston,  1729  ;  p.  56. 


_.  49 

AGED    12.]       -  ™S-^  ^0<"^^- 

cap  TV-ritin^  paper  now  in  common  use.    The  European  news  was 
Zlt  mes^thirteen  months  in  arrears;  yet  some  famt  echo  of  the 
Tat  events  of  the  time  found  its  way  to  the  ears  of  our  young 
?  Uowlandler.    The  later  victories  of  Marlborough  ;  the  peace  of 
mrecht :  the  wild  career  of  Charles  XII. ;  the  fonndmg  of  &t.  Pe- 
tersbml ;  the  South  Sea  Bubble;  the  death  of  Queen  Anne;  the 
^TaceM  'accession   of  George  I.;  the   ^oj^moil^o^B^rn,- 
broke  •  the  attempts  of  the  Pretender  ;  the  death  of  ^o^ /^^^-  - 
were  among  the  paragraphed  events  of  Franklin's  boyhood.    The 
Tents  which  occuLd°at  Boston  needed  no  "cler  °r  o^^^^^^^^^ 
friend.     The  town  had  grown  then  to  a  population  of  pe.haps  ten 
"Land,  contained  nine  or  ten  churches  had  an  a-va  Krom  ^ 
rope  about  once  a  week,  sent  to  sea  some  kmd  of  craft  nearly  eve. y 
day  and  the  Long  Wharf  was  out  eight  hundred  feet  mto  the  har- 
bor.' No  doubt  the  boy  was  upon  the  wharf  when  Admiral  Walter 
nchored  in  the  bay  his  great  fleet  of  fifteen  ---^ J-  -J/£ 
transports,  with  five  thousand  troops  «^^°^';f ' '^?3,t " 
conquest  of  Canada,  but  destined  to  wreck  and  miserable  failure. 
Pei-haps  the  boy  wa;  bold  enough  to  go  down  to  the  shore  m  April 
ni6,  and  see  the  hanging  of  the  six  pirates  who  had  s^iwed  unde. 
Cap    in  Bellamy.    If  he  did,  he  heard  one  of  the  raost  ten-ifie 
prayers  ever  utLed  by  a  clergyman  in  the  hearmg  of  a  gang  of 
criminals.    The  hanging  of  pirates  was  a  frequent  event  in  that  age 
ofTe  world,  when  th;  highways  of  land  and  sea  were  infested 
:ith  Jobbers.'   The  Pirates' Own  Book  wasin  course  of  transacUon 
when  Franklin  was  a  boy.    He  took  it  piece-meal,  by  hand-bd. 
Newsletter,  fireside  narrative,  and  otherwise.     It  was  m  o„e  of  his 
early  years  that  three  or  four  Boston  sailors,  who  had  been  taken 
by  pirates,  rose  upon  their  captors,  threw  the  captam  ">to   he  sea, 
clove  the  skulls  of  mate  and  boatswain,  bound  he  crew  of  six  men 
and  took  them  to  Boston,  where  they  were  all  hanged     The  man 
who  clove  the  skull  of  the  boatswain  was  John  Fillmore,  great 
grandfather  of  ex-President  Millard  Fillmore.*  _ 

Young  Franklin  heard,  probably,  all  about  the  founding  inBo.tx.n 
of  a  spinning  school  for  girls,  and  of  the  erection  of  a  building  for 
the  purpose  This  scheme  was  one  of  the  results  of  the  arrival  of 
a  colony  of  Unen  spinners  from  Londonderry,  who  brought  to  Amer- 

*  Drake's  '•  History  of  Boston.,''  p.  570. 


60  LIFE    AND   TIMES' OF   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [l7l8. 

lea  the  spinning-wheel,  the  potato,  and  the  ancestors  of  Horace 
Greeley.  Boston  was  an  entirely  English  town  then.  If  it  had  its 
days  of  fast  and  thanksgiving,  it  kept  also  the  king's  birthday  and 
Guy  Fawkes'  Day,  and  had  two  great  fairs  every  year. 

Whatever  occurred  in  Boston,  we  may  be  sure  that  this  open- 
eyed,  inquiring  boy  knew  it,  considered  it,  and  remembered  it. 
Sixty-five  years  after  he  had  ceased  to  be  a  boy,  he  quoted  his 
boyish  recollections  to  illustrate  a  point  in  science.  "  I  remember," 
he  wrote  in  1786,  "there  was  a  general  discourse  in  Boston,  when 
I  was  a  boy,  of  a  complaint  from  N  orth  Carolina  against  New  Eng- 
land rum,  that  it  poisoned  their  people,  giving  them  the  dry  belly- 
ache, with  a  loss  of  the  use  of  their  limbs.  The  distilleries  being 
examined  on  the  occasion,  it  was  found  that  several  of  them  used 
leaden  still-heads  and  worms,  and  the  physicians  were  of  opinion 
that  the  mischief  was  occasioned  by  that  use  of  lead.  The  legisla- 
ture of  Massachusetts  thereupon  passed  an  act,  prohibiting,  under 
severe  penalties,  the  use  of  such  still-heads  and  worms  thereafter." 

Let  us  not  omit  to  add  that  the  boy  was  brought  up  religiously. 
Regular  attendance  at  the  Old  South  Church  Avas  required  of  him, 
and  of  all  his  brothers  and  sisters.  There,  he  once  heard  preach, 
old  Increase  Mather,  the  father  of  Cotton,  and  heard  him,  in  the 
course  of  his  sermon,  refer  to  the  death  "  of  that  wicked  old  perse- 
cutor of  God's  people,  Louis  XIY."  There,  too,  he  frequently 
heard  Cotton  Mather,  in  the  vigor  of  his  powers.  Josiah  Frank- 
lin was  too  good-humored  and  intelligent  a  man  to  be  an  ascetic  or 
a  bigot.  Such  genial  natures  as  his  are  apt  to  eat  the  kernel  of  their 
chestnut  creed,  throw  the  shells  away,  and  leave  the  fierce  and 
bristling  hurr  upon  the  ground ;  ^.  e.,  they  practice  the  virtues,  and 
let  alone  the  dogmas,  of  their  religion.  The  anecdote  of  Franklin 
and  his  father,  told  by  the  grandson  of  Franklin,  permits  us  to  infer 
that  Josiah  and  his  children  lived  on  easy  terms  with  one  another, 
and  that  he  did  not  embitter  and  cramp  their  young  lives  with  the 
exactions  and  terrors  of  the  ancient  Puritanism.  The  boy,  we  are 
told,  found  the  long  graces  used  by  his  fiither,  before  and  after 
meals,  very  tedious.  One  day,  after  the  winter's  provisions  had 
been  salted,  "  I  think,  father,"  said  Benjamin,  "  if  you  were  to 
say  grace  over  the  whole  cask,  once  for  all,  it  would  be  a  vast  sav- 
ing of  time."* 

*  "  Works  of  Dr.  Franklin,"  by  W.  Temple  Franklin,  i.,  447. 


AGED    12.]  APPRENTICED.  51 

Dr.  Joseph  Sewall  was  an  associate  pastor  of  the  Old  South  Church 
from  Benjamin's  seventh  year.  Dr.  Sewall  is  described  as  a  Calvinist 
of  the  straightest  sect,  very  zealous  in  his  calling,  but  abundant  in 
alms-giving  and  all  other  practical  generosity.  He  was  a  vigorous, 
healthy,  modest  man,  who  declined  the  proffered  Presidency  of 
Harvard  College,  and  preached  a  sermon  in  the  evening  of  his 
eightieth  birthday. 

Franklin,  upon  the  whole,  spent  a  very  happy  boyhood,  and  his 
heart  yearned  toward  Boston  as  long  as  he  lived.  When  he  was 
eighty-two  years  old,  he  spoke  of  it  as  "  that  beloved  place."  He 
said,  in  the  same  letter,  that  he  would  dearly  like  to  ramble  again 
over  the  scene  of  so  many  innocent  pleasures ;  and  as  that  could 
not  be,  he  had  a  singular  pleasure  in  the  company  and  conversation 
of  its  inhabitants.  "  The  Boston  manner,"  he  touchingly  added, 
"  the  turn  of  phrase,  and  even  tone  of  voice  and  accent  in  pronun- 
ciation, all  please,  and  seem  to  revive  and  refresh  me."^' 

Tf  Franklin  could  now  revisit  the  scenes  of  his  boyhood,  there  is 
still  there  one  object  which  he  would  recognize,  besides  the  beautiful 
harbor  and  its  emerald  isles.  The  great  elm  on  Boston  Common 
was  "the  Great  Elm"  when  Benjamin  Franklin  played  under  it  in 
boyhood,  and  drove  home,  at  sunset,  his  father's  cow  from  the 
Commons  around  Beacon  Hill.f 


CHAPTER  V. 

APPRENTICED. 


Benjaisiin  continued  to  assist  his  father  for  two  years,  notwith- 
standing his  discontent,  and  his  longing  for  the  sea.  Toward  the 
end  of  the  second  year,  John  Franklin,  an  elder  brother  of  Benja- 
min, who  had,  like  himself,  been  taken  to  assist  his  father  when  he 
was  a  boy,  married  and  removed  to  Rhode  Island,  where  he  set  up 
for  himself  as  a  soap  and  candle  maker.  This  event  rendered  the 
aid  of  Benjamin  more  important  to  his  fither  than  before,  and 

*  "Franklin  to  John  Lathrop,"  Sparks,  x.,  848.  f  "Atlantic  Monthly,"  June,  1868,  p.  692. 


52  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FBANKLIN.  [l7l8. 

seemed  forever  to  close  the  door  of  his  escape  from  a  business 
which  he  loathed.  The  prospect  so  inflamed  the  discontent  of 
the  boy,  that  his  father,  fearing  that  he  would  break  loose,  as  Jo- 
siah  had  done,  and  go  to  sea,  resolved  to  apprentice  him  to  a  more 
agreeable  trade.  Father  and  son  now  visited  together  the  work- 
shops of  carpenters,  turners,  braziers,  and  others ;  the  flither  ob- 
serving the  inclinations  of  his  boy,  anxious,  chiefly,  to  fix  upon  a 
trade  that  would  keep  him  from  the  sea.  The  lad  watched  the 
labor  of  the  workmen  with  interest ;  it  was  ever  after,  he  tells  us, 
a  pleasure  to  him  to  see  a  good  mechanic  handle  his  tools ;  and  lie 
obtained  from  these  wanderings  among  the  shops  a  little  insight 
into  the  leading  trades,  that  was  of  use  to  him  all  his  life,  particu- 
larly when  experimenting  in  natural  philosophy. 

Uncle  Benjamin's  son,  Samuel,  was  then  established  in  Boston  as 
a  cutler.  It  was  decided,  at  length,  that  Benjamin  should  try  this 
trade,  and  he  went  for  a  few  days  to  the  shop  of  his  cousin  Samuel, 
"  upon  liking."  The  boy,  it  appears,  was  not  displeased  with  the 
occupation,  but  his  father  and  his  cousin  could  not  agree  upon  the 
premium  to  be  paid,  and  so  Benjamin  returned  to  his  candle-mak- 
ing. Some  readers  may  need  to  be  informed,  that,  at  that  day  (as 
in  Europe  to  this  day),  apprentices  paid  a  premium  to  their  masters 
for  the  privilege  of  learning  a  business.  The  premium  required  in 
such  trades  as  cutlery  was  then  about  twenty  pounds  sterling. 

James  Franklin,  that  elder  brother  of  Benjamin,  who  learned 
the  trade  of  a  printer  in  London,  returned  to  Boston,  with  types 
and  a  press  of  his  own,  when  Benjamin  was  eleven  years  old.  He 
set  up  in  business,  in  Boston,  as  a  printer  both  of  paper  and  of  cali- 
co. An  advertisement  of  his,  in  the  JBoston  Gazette  for  April  25, 
1760,  reads  thus:  "The  printer  hereof,  prints  linens,  callicoes,  silks, 
etc.,  in  good  figures,  very  lively  and  durable  colors,  and  without 
the  offensive  smell  which  commonly  attends  the  linens  printed 
here."  For  a  year  or  more  he  appears  to  have  done  little  business. 
He  printed  a  few  pamphlets  for  booksellers,  and,  possibly,  a  few 
linens,  silks,  and  calicoes  for  the  ladies. 

When  Benjamin  and  his  father  went  the  rounds  of  the  work- 
shops, the  trade  of  printer  does  not  appear  to  have  occurred  to 
either  of  them.  There  was  a  printer  in  the  family  already,  and 
the  time  had  not  really  gone  by  when  one  small  printing-office 
was  enough  for  Boston.     Brighter  prospects,  however,  opened  for 


I 


AGED  12.]  APPRENTICED.  53 

James  Franklin  during  the  second  year  after  his  return  home ;  and 
the  extreme  fondness  Benjamin  had  for  reading  had  its  effect  upon 
the  minds  of  his  parents.  They  proposed  that  the  boy  should  be 
apprenticed  to  his  brother  James.  Pining  still  for  adventures  upon 
the  sea,  and  for  a  sight  of  the  foreign  marvels  he  had  read  of  in  his 
books,  Benjamin  shrank  from  being  bound  to  his  brother,  but  to 
the  persuasions  of  his  friends  he  yielded  at  last,  and  signed  his  in- 
dentures when  he  was  twelve  years  of  age.  He  bound  himself  to 
serve  his  brother  as  an  apprentice  till  he  was  twenty-one,  a  period 
of  nine  years,  but  during  the  last  year  he  was  to  be  allowed  the 
wages  of  a  journeyman.*  He  liked  his  new  occupation  not  too 
well,  but  it  was  better  than  cutting  candle-wicks  and  ladling  melted 
grease.  With  the  ardor  that  belonged  to  his  nature,  he  applied 
himself  to  learn  the  business,  and  he  soon  became  useful  to  his 
brother.  The  printing  oiSce  stood  on  the  spot  which  is  now  the 
corner  of  Franklin  Avenue  and  Court  Street. 

When  a  great  personage  retires  from  an  employment,  the  public 
are  curious  to  know  something  of  his  successor.  An  advertisement 
in  a  Boston  newspaper  enables  us  to  gratify  their  curiosity  with  re- 
gard to  the  successor  of  Benjamin  Franklin  in  the  office  of  tallow- 


*  The  following  was  the  form  of  an  indenture  of  apprenticeship  used  in  the  reign  of  George  I. 

"This  INDENTUEE  witnesseth,  that  Benjamin  Franklin,  son  of  Josiah  Franklin  and  of  Abiah, 
his  wife,  of  Boston,  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  with  the  consent  of  his  parents,  doth  put 
himself  apprentice  to  his  brother,  James  Franklin,  printer,  to  learn  his  art,  and  with  him,  after 

the  manner  of  an  apprentice,  to  serve,  from  the day  of ,  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1718, 

until  he  shall  have  fully  completed  the  twenty-first  year  of  his  age.  During  which  term  the  said 
apprentice  his  master  faithfully  shall  or  will  serve,  his  secrets  keep,  his  lawful  commands  every- 
•where  gladly  do.  He  shall  do  no  damage  to  his  said  master  nor  see  it  to  be  done  of  others ;  but 
to  his  power  shall  let,  or  forthwith  give  notice  to  his  said  master  of  the  same.  The  goods  of  his 
said  master  he  shall  not  waste,  nor  the  same  without  license  of  him  to  any  give  or  lend.  Hurt  to 
his  said  master  he  shall  not  do,  cause,  nor  procure  to  be  done.  He  shall  neither  buy  nor  sell 
without  his  master's  license.  Taverns,  inns,  or  alehouses  he  shall  not  haunt.  At  cards,  dice, 
tables,  or  any  other  unlawful  game  he  shall  not  pla3\  Matrimony  he  shall  not  contract;  nor  from 
the  service  of  his  said  master  day  nor  night  absent  himself;  but  in  all  things  as  an  honest  and 
fivithful  apprentice  shall  and  will  demean  and  behave  himself  towards  his  said  master  and  all  his 
during  the  said  term.  And  the  said  James  Franklin,  the  master,  for  and  in  consideration  of  the 
sum  often  pounds  of  lawful  British  money  to  him  in  hand  paid  by  the  said  Josiah  Franklin,  the 
father,  the  receipt  of  which  is  hereby  acknowledged,  the  said  apprentice  in  the  art  of  a  printer 
which  he  now  useth,  shall  teach  and  instruct  or  cause  to  be  taught  and  instructed  the  best  way 
and  manner  that  he  can,  finding  and  allowing  unto  the  said  apprentice  meat,  drink,  washing, 
lodging,  and  all  other  necessaries  during  the  said  term.  And  for  the  true  performance  of  all  and 
every  the  covenants  and  agreements  aforesaid,  either  of  the  said  parties  bindeth  himself  unto  the 
other  firmly  by  these  presents.  In  witness  whereof,  the  parties  aforesaid  to  these  indentures  in- 
terchangeably have  set  their  hands  and  seals  this day  of ,  in  the  fifth  year  of  our  Sove- 
reign Lord,  George  the  First,  by  the  grace  of  God  of  Great  Britain,  France  and  Ireland  King, 
Defender  of  the  Faith,  and  in  the  year  of  our  Lord,  1718." 


64  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1*718. 

chandler's  assistant,  the  first  place  he  ever  filled.     The  following 
advertisement  appeared  in  the  New  Eng  Courantm  July,  1722  : 

"  Ran  away  from  his  Master,  Mr.  Josiah  Franklin,  of  Boston, 
Tallow-Chandler,  on  the  first  of  this  instant  July,  an  Irish  Man- 
servant, named  William  Tinsley,  about  20  Years  of  Age,  of  a  middle 
Stature,  black  Hair,  lately  cut  oif,  somewhat  fresh-colored  Counte- 
nance, a  large  lower  Lip,  of  a  mean  Aspect,  large  Legs,  and  heavy  in 
his  Going.  He  had  on,  when  he  went  away,  a  felt  Hat,  a  white 
knit  Cap,  striped  with  red  and  blue,  white  Shirt,  and  neck-cloth,  a 
brown  coloured  Jacket,  almost  new,  a  frieze  Coat,  of  a  dark  Colour, 
grey  yarn  Stockings,  leather  Breeches,  trimmed  with  black,  and 
round  to'd  Shoes.  Whoever  shall  apprehend  the  said  runaway 
Servant,  and  him  safely  convey  to  his  above  said  Master,  at  the 
blue  Ball,  in  Union  street,  Boston,  shall  have  forty  Shillings  Re- 
ward, and  all  necessary  Charges  paid." 

As  this  advertisement  was  continued  for  three  successive  weeks, 
we  are  at  liberty  to  conclude  that  William  Tinsley  was  not  "  appre- 
hended." 

Of  the  next  three  years  in  the  history  of  our  apprentice,  we  have 
little  more  to  record  than  the  books  he  read.  But  in  tracing  the 
growth  of  every  vivid  and  influencing  intellect,  we  perceive  that 
no  events  are  so  important  as  the  reading  of  the  few  forming  books. 
The  mind  destined  to  exert  a  powerful  influence,  is  itself  exceed- 
ingly susceptible  of  influence.  Constantly,  as  though  moved  by 
instinct,  or  impelled  by  irresistible  fate,  such  a  lad  as  Franklin 
stretches  toward  the  most  advanced  expressions  of  truth.  Oceans 
and  continents,  ignorance  and  poverty,  the  narrowness  of  the 
conventicle  and  the  restraints  of  lowly  birth,  cannot  keep  from 
such  a  large  and  craving  soul  the  mental  nourishment  it  needs. : 
Accordingly,  we  find  that  this  printer's  boy,  with  scarcely  any 
money  at  command,  working  at  his  trade  in  remote,  colonial  Bos- 
ton, came  in  contact  with  the  best  literature  of  his  day,  as  well  as 
with  the  thought  that  was  most  novel  and  audacious. 

Boston,  we  may  remark,  was  a  bookish  place,  from  the  earliest 
period  of  its  history.  Twenty  years  before  Franklin  was  born, 
there  were  already  five  booksellers  in  the  town,  one  of  whom,  we 
are  expressly  informed,  was  "  very  rich,"  "  and  got  his  estate  by 
bookselling."  Another  is  spoken  of,  as  "being  thriving;"  another, 
as  a  man  "versed  in  the  knowledge  of  all  sorts  of  books,"  and  one 


AGED    12.]    ■  APPRENTICED.  65 

"  who  may  well  be  styled  a  complete  bookseller  ;"  and  another,  as 
"  a  bookseller  from  London."*  It  is  probable  that  there  were  as 
many  as  ten  booksellers  in  Boston  when*  Franklin  was  an  appren- 
tice. Their  stock  was  chiefly  imported  from  England,  but  they 
published  a  large  number  of  sermons,  controversial  tracts,  pam- 
phlets, ballads,  almanacs,  and  such  small  ware.  Divinity  was,  of 
course,  the  main  reliance  of  the  bookseller ;  but  we  have  abundant 
proof  that  whatever  printed  thing  obtained  currency  among  thinkers 
in  the  old  country,  was  immediately  transported  to  the  colonies,  and 
read  by  the  little  circle  of  liberal  minds  in  each  of  the  large  towns. 
While  bears  were  still  shot  from  the  Long  Wharf  of  Boston  as 
they  swam  in  the  bay,  and  twenty  in  a  \veek  were  sometimes  killed 
within  two  miles  of  the  town,  a  few  of  the  people  were  enjoying 
the  rarest  fruits  of  the  oldest  civilization,  the  books  of  brave  men. 

Benjamin,  unable  to  buy  the  treasures  of  the  Boston  bookstores, 
could  noAV  occasionally  borrow  a  book  through  his  acquaintance 
with  th6  booksellers'  apprentices.  Often,  he  tells  us,  he  sat  up  in 
his  bedroom  reading  the  greatest  part  of  the  night,  when  the 
book  borrow^ed  in  the  evening  had  to  be  returned  in  the  morning, 
lest  the  master  of  the  shop  should  miss  it.  And  there  was  a  mer- 
chant of  Boston,  Matthew  Adams,  who,  coming  often  to  the  print- 
ing office,  noticed  the  reading  apprentice,  invited  him  to  see  his 
library,  and  lent  him  books.  Mr.  Adams  was  himself  a  writer,  one 
of  a  knot  of  liberals  who  afterward  astonished  Boston  by  their 
audacious  satire  in  the  Neio  England  Courant. 

The  example  of  Uncle  Benjamin  and  the  poems  which  his  new 
friends  placed  in  his  way  gave  the  apprentice  a  strong  inclination 
for  poetry,  and  induced  him  to  compose  several  pieces  in  rhyme. 
His  brother,  James,  conceived  the  idea  of  turning  the  lad's  rhyming 
propensity  to  account.  At  that  time,  as  now,  there  was  a  great 
trade  in  street  ballads,  both  in  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country. 
The  exploits  of  pirates,  the  execution  of  murderers,  the  gallantry 
of  highwaymen,  terrible  shipw^recks,  horrible  crimes,  and  all  events 
of  great  note,  were  chronicled  in  doleful  doggerel  ballads,  which 
were  hawked  about  in  town  and  country.  So  extensive  was  this 
trade  in  Boston,  during  the  boyhood  of  Franklin,  that  one  pubhsh- 
er,  Thomas  Fleet  by  nnme,  though  otherwise  unfortunate,  printed 

*  Dunton's  "  Life  and  Errors." 


56  LIFE    AIS-D   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FEANKLIN.  [1721. 

and  sold  so  many  ballads,  that  the  profit  upon  them  alone  "  was 
sufficient  to  support  his  family  respectably."*  At  the  suggestion 
of  his  brother,  Benjamin  tried  his  hand  at  this  profitable  and  popu- 
lar kind  of  composition.  He  wrote  two  ballads  ;  one,  called  "  The 
Light-House  Tragedy,"  was  a  narrative  of  the  shipwreck  of  Captain 
Worthilake,  in  which  perished  the  captain  and  his  two  daughters ; 
the  other  was  designed  for  sailors,  and  related  the  capture  of 
Blackbeard,f  a  famous  pirate.  Of  the  first  named  of  these  ditties 
no  trace  has  been  discovered,  but  of  thf,  second,  one  stanza  was  re- 
membered by  Mr.  Weems,  the^nventiye  early  biography-  of 
Washington  and  Franldin.  Even  if '"fhe  ingenious  Weems  bor- 
rowed from  another  author  the  stanza  which  he  attributes  to 
Franklin,  it  is  a  perfect  specimen  of  the  ancient  ballad  style. 

"  Come  all  you  jolly  sailors, 

You  all  so  stout  and  brave ; 
Come  hearken  and  I'll  tell  you 

What  happen'd  on  the  wave. 
Oh  !  'tis  of  that  bloody  Blackboard 

I'm  going  now  for  to  tell ; 
And  as  how  by  gallant  Maynard 

*  Thomas's  "  History  of  Priating,"  i.,  294. 

t  "  Edward  Teach  (Blackbeard),  v.'as  born  in  Bristol,  England.  At  one  time  he  came  off 
Charleston,  S.  C,  with  his  fellow-pirate,  Richards,  and  one  or  two  other  vessels.  There  they  re- 
mained some  days  without  the  bar,  capturing  vessels,  and  causing  much  terror  to  the  inhabit- 
ants, and  stopping  all  trade  from  the  port.  While  there,  Teach  sent  in  Captain  Eichards,  with  one 
of  his  prisoners,  to  demand  of  the  governor  medicines,  on  pain  of  his  destroying  his  prisoners.  It 
was  granted,  and  Eichards  and  his  men  actually  walked  the  town,  audaciously  and  unmolested. 
After  this  he  ran  ashore  upon  North  Carolina,  and  made  his  terms  of  surrender  to  the  governor. 
'The  gold  of  Blackbeard  (it  is  said)  rendered  him  comely  in  the  governor's  eye,  and,  through  his 
aid,  he  obtained  a  legal  right  to  the  great  ship.  The  Eevenge' — 'the  governor  condemning  her 
at  Bath  Town  Court,  as  a  lawful  prize  to  the  captor  T  While  in  North  Carolina,  Blackbeard 
married  a  young  woman  of  good  family,  the  governor  being  present  at  the  ceremonies !  She  was 
said  to  have  been  his  fourteenth  wife — twelve  of  whom  were  still  living.  He  Avent  otf  again  to 
his  piracies,  and  brought  his  captures  into  North  Carolina,  and  had  them  again  condemned — the 
governor  and  he  sharing  spoils!  Blackbeard  ' passed  several  months  in  the  river,  giving  rnd 
receiving  visits  from  the  planters,'  etc. — thej',  probably,  not  knowing  his  real  character.  In  time 
they  began  to  knov/  it — and  they  and  sundry  captains  of  vessels,  made  their  representation  to  the 
Governor  of  Virginia,  as  too  much  distrusting  their  own  governor.  The  Governor  of  Virginia 
hired  two  small  vessels,  and  gave  the  command  to  Lieutenant  Maynard,  who,  on  the  17th  Novem- 
ber, 1717,  sailed  from  James  Eiver  in  quest,  and  found  Blackbeard  on  the  21st,  with  but  few  of  his 
men  on  board.  A  fierce  fight  ensued — Maynard  and  Blackbeard  hand  to  hand — the  latter  received 
twenty  cuts,  and  as  many  shots,  before  he  fell  dead.  He  struck  otf  his  head,  and  hung  it  on  the 
end  of  his  bowsprit,  on  his  return  to  Virginia.  They  found  on  board  the  prize  letters  and 
papers,  which  criminated  the  Governor  of  North  Carolina,  and  his  Secretary.  The  prisoners 
taken  were  tried  and  executed  in  Virginia."— Watson's  "  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  ii.  222. 


AGED  15.]  APPRENTICED.  67 

He  soon  was  sent  to  hell — 

With  a  down,  down,  down,  deny  down."* 

Franklin  himself  says  that  his  ballads  were  "  wretched  stuiF;" 
and,  indeed,  though  ho  wrote  verses  occasionally  all  his  life,  he 
never  produced  any  that  were  much  better  than  the  best  of  his  Uncle 
Benjamin's.  As  soon  as  the  ballads  were  printed,  his  brother  sent 
him  about  the  town  to  sell  them.  The  "  Light-House  Tragedy,"  the 
event  being  recent  and  aifecting,  sold  prodigiously,  which  greatly 
elated  the  young  author.  His  father,  however,  came  to  the  rescue 
of  his  good  sense,  pointed  out  the  faults  of  the  performance,  and 
told  him  that  verse-makers  were  generally  beggars  ;  not  aware  that 
Pope,  in  that  very  year,  had  pocketed  five  thousand  pounds  for  his 
translation  of  the  Iliad.  The  old  gentleman's  remark,  however,  was 
correct,  and  he  succeeded  in  dissuading  his  son  from  attempting  a 
pursuit  in  which  he  could  never  have  excelled. 

To  the  criticisms  of  his  father  Franklin  also  attributes  his  early, 
strong  desire  to  attain  an  elegant  prose  style. 

The  comrade  and  crony  of  the  lad,  during  his  apprenticeship, 
was  John  Collins,  a  youth  fond  of  books,  gifted  with  a  fluent 
tongue  and  much  addicted  to  argument.  Franklin,  too,  from 
reading  the  books  of  polemic  divinity  in  his  father's  little  collection, 
had  become  exceedingly  disputatious ;  a  turn  of  mind  which  he 
afterward  outgrew  and  disliked.  An  argument  once  arose  be- 
tween the  friends  with  regard  to  the  utility  of  educating  women 
in  the  abstruse  sciences.  Collins  thought  women  incapable  of  ac- 
quiring knowledge  of  that  nature.  Franklin  maintained  the  con- 
trary opinion.  He,  probably,  derived  his  impressions  on  that  sub- 
ject from  his  early  favorite,  Defoe,  who  was  earnest  for  the  educa- 
tion of  girls.  *'  We  reproach  the  sex  every  day,"  says  Defoe,  in 
the  Essay  on  Projects,  "  with  folly  and  impertinence,  while,  I  am 
confident,  had  they  advantages  of  education  equal  to  us,  they 
would  be  guilty  of  less  than  ourselves."  The  early  Puritans  did 
not  encourage  the  education  of  girls.  Mrs.  John  Adams  wrote,  in 
IV 78:  "In  this  country,  you  need  not  be  told  how  much  female 
education  is  neglected,  nor  how  fashionable  it  has  been  to  ridicule 
female  learning."  The  wives  of  most  of  the  revolutionary  fathers 
were  extremely  illiterate. 

Now,  Franklin  was  never  a  fluent  talker,  and  he  was  frequently 

*  Wcems's  "  Franklin,"  p.  21. 


5^  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l721. 

silenced,  as  he  thought,  more  by  the  eloquence  than  the  arguments 
of  his  friend.  They  parted,  on  this  occasion,  without  settling  the 
controversy ;  and,  as  they  were  not  to  meet  for  some  time,  Franklin 
wrote  out  his  argument,  copied  it,  and  sent  the  copy  to  Collins; 
who  returned  an  ample  reply.  When  three  or  four  letters  on  each 
side  had  passed  between  them,  the  whole  correspondence  chanced 
to  fall  under  the  eye  of  Benjamin's  father.  He  said  nothing  to  his 
son  on  the  subject  in  dispute,  but  pointed  out  to  him  what  an  ad- 
vantage his  antagonist  had  in  the  eloquence  and  correctness  of  his 
style.  In  spelling  and  punctuation,  the  old  gentleman  admitted 
that  his  son,  owing  to  his  trade,  was  superior  to  Collins ;  but  in 
elegance  and  perspicuity,  he  showed  him,  by  many  examples,  that 
he  was  far  behind  his  antagonist.  Benjamin  perceived  the  justice 
of  his  father's  remarks,  and  became,  from  that  time,  more  attentive 
to  his  style,  and,  indeed,  took  unusual  pains  to  improve  it. 
>^  An  odd  volume  of  the  Spectator,  the  only  one  that  he  had  ever 
seen,  fell  opportunely  in  his  way.  Besides  reading  it  over  and 
over  again  with  delight  and  admiration,  he  soon  attempted  to 
imitate  its  easily  imitated  style.  Sometimes  he  made  memoranda 
of  the  purport  of  each  sentence  of  one  of  the  papers,  laid  them 
by  for  a  few  days,  then  rewrote  the  paper  and  corrected  his  own 
composition  by  comparing  it  with  the  original.  Sometimes  he 
turned  one  of  the  stories  into  verse,  and  when  he  had  partly  for- 
gotten the  prose,  turned  it  back  a^ain.  He  found  that  rhyming, 
even  if  one  could  never  be  a  poet,  had  its  uses ;  the  struggle  for 
the  rhyming  word,  the  search  for  words  of  the  requisite  length 
and  accent,  tended,  he  thought,  to  give  the  student  a  mastery  of 
language.  Sometimes,  he  would  make  a  sketch  of  the  meaning  of 
each  sentence  of  an  essay  on  separate  pieces  of  paper,  tumble  them 
into  confusion,  lay  them  aside  till  he  had  quite  forgotten  the  piece, 
«ind  then  try  and  reconstruct  it.  This  he  did  as  a  lesson  in  the  art 
of  arrangmg  the  matter  of  an  essay.  On  comparing  his  work  with 
the  original,  he  found  many  faults,  which  he  corrected  ;  but,  occa- 
sionally, he  had  the  pleasure  of  fancying  that  in  some  particulars 
of  minor  consequence  he  had  improved  either  the  method  or  the 
style.  When  this  occurred,  he  was  encouraged  to  think  that  he 
might  in  time  becoriie  a  tolerable  English  writer,  a  distinction  of 
which,  he  tells  us,  he  was  extremely  ambitious. 

About  the  same  time  he   went  through  some  of  the  common 


AGED  15.]  APPRENTICED.  59 

school-books  of  the  day.  Cocker's  Arithmetic,  the  Cocker  of  the 
proverb  and  the  farce,  which  puzzled  four  generations  of  school- 
boys, he  had  twice  tried  and  failed  to  master.  But  now,  having 
on  some  occasion  been  made  ashamed  of  his  ignorance  of  figures, 
he  took  up  the  book  in  earnest,  and  went  through  it  with  ease. 
In  the  same  way  he  mastered  a  treatise  on  English  Grammar  and 
another  on  ISTavigation.  He  also  read  Locke  on  "  Human  Under- 
standing," "  The  Art  of  Thinking,"  by  Messrs.  de  Port  Royal,  and 
Xenophon's  "Memorabilia  of  Socrates."  The  Memorabilia  gave  the 
young  disputant  peculiar  pleasure.  The  Socratic  method  of  arguing 
he  adopted  at  once,  discarding  his  former  practice  of  flat  contra- 
diction and  positive  assertion,  assuming  the  tone  of  the  modest 
inquirer  after  truth,  and  involving  his  antagonist  in  a  maze  by  a 
series  of  questions.  Smollett  endows  Peregrine  Pickle  with  the 
same  mode  of  bothering  his  tutor :  "  Sometimes,  when  the  conver- 
sation turned  upon  intricate  subjects,  he  practiced  upon  him  the 
Socratic  method  of  confutation,  and  under  pretense  of  being 
informed,  by  an  artful  train  of  puzzling  questions,  insensibly 
betrayed  him  into  self-contradiction."  Franklin  practiced  his 
newly-discovered  art  incessantly,  and  grew  so  expert  as  to  draw 
people  far  superior  to  himself  into  concessions,  the  consequences 
of  which  they  did  not  foresee,  and  which  gave  victories  to  the 
young  disputant  that  neither  he  nor  his  cause  deserved.  He  came, 
in  time,  to  see  the  emptiness  of  such  triumphs,  and  gave  up  the 
method.  But  he  permanently  learned  from  Socrates  the  power 
there  is  in  a  modest  and  courteous  demeanor,  and  the  advantage  a 
disputant  has  who  refrains  from  wounding,  alarming,  or  irritating 
an  opponent's  self-love. 

But  how  did  our  apprentice  find  time  for  such  various  studies  ? 
The  evenings  were  probably  his  own,  and  if  they  were  not,  he  made 
evenings  out  of  the  early  hours  of  the  night.  He  gained  the  greater 
part  of  the  dinner  hour  by  a  curious  expedient.  There  were  Vege- 
tarians, it  appears,  even  at  that  early  time.  The  little  book  of  one 
of  them  fell  in  Franklin's  way  and  made  an  easy  convert  of  him ; 
easy,  because  the  youth  was  indifferent  to  food,  and  because  the 
vegetarian  theory  is  captivating  to  young  and  generous  minds. 
His  refusal  to  eat  flesh  occasioned,  sometimes,  an  inconvenience  at 
the  house  where  he  boarded,  and  he  was  often  reproved  for  his 
singularity.     Having  made  hhnself  acquainted  with  the  manner  of 


60  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [l722. 

preparing  the  viands  recommended  in  his  Vegetarian  treatise,  he 
told  his  brother  that,  if  he  would  give  him  half  the  money  paid  for 
his  board,  he  would  board  himself.  His  brother  consented.  Upon 
trying  the  experiment,  Benjamin  found  that  he  could  save  half  of 
the  half;  a  precious  addition  to  his  means  of  buying  books.  But 
the  great  advantage  v/as,  that  he  could  eat  his  noontide  biscuit, 
his  potatoes,  rice,  or  hasty  pudding,  at  the  printing  office,  and  thus 
get  nearly  the  whole  hour  for  reading.  His  dinner,  he  says,  con- 
sisted often  of  a  slice  of  bread  or  a  biscuit,  a  handful  of  raisins, 
and  a  glass  of  water.  Rising  early  in  the  morning,  he  had  an 
hour  for  study  before  work  began. 

He  studied  much  on  Sundays.  While  he  was  under  his  father's 
roof  he  was  obliged  to  go  to  church,  and  he  still  considered  it  liis 
duty  to  do  so.  Nor  does  it  appear  that  the  law  of  1632,  imposing 
on  those  who  neglected  to  attend  church  a  fine  of  ten  shillings,  had 
yet  been  repealed.  Such  were  the  charms  of  study,  however,  that, 
as  often  as  possible,  he  now  avoided  the  church,  and  stole  away  to 
the  printing  house  on  Sundays,  and  spent  delicious  hours  over  his 
books  and  his  exercises.  And  this  leads  us  to  the  mention  of  cer- 
tain other  books  which  the  lad  read  before  he  was  sixteen ;  books 
which  made  upon  him  an  impression  that  proved  to  be  indelible, 
and  of  which  this  neglect  of  church-going  was  a  result. 


CHAPTER  YI. 

HE   READS    SHAFTESBURY   AND   COLLINS. 

Dr.  Franklin  remarks,  in  his  humorous  way,  that,  in  all  his  life, 
he  met  with  but  one  sect  who  did  not  assume  that  they  possessed 
all  religious  truth  which  man  was  destined  ever  to  arrive  at.  This 
was  the  sect  of  Tankers,  or  Dunkers,  of  Pennsylvania,  who  forbore 
to  publish  a  creed  because  they  expected  further  discoveries  of 
truth,  of  which  the  existence  of  a  creed,  they  thought,  might  hin- 
der the  free  acceptance. 

If  history  shows  any  thing  more  certainly  than  another,  it  is  that 


AGED  16.]        HE   BEADS   SHAFTESBURY   AND   COLLINS.  61 

religious  truth  is  progressive.  All  denominations  admit  this  with 
regard  to  the  past,  but  we  perceive  that  it  requires  a  superior  de- 
gree of  enlightenment  to  accept  it  as  a  fact  of  the  future.  Hence, 
as  nothing  can  stay  the  progress  of  human  intelligence,  there  is 
generally  a  conflict  between  the  advanced  minds  of  a  generation 
and  its  theology;  or,  as  Herbert  Spencer  expresses  it,  between 
theology  and  science.  The  same  author  shows  that  between  these 
two  forces  there  is  no  necessary  conflict ;  only  theology  is  always 
tardy  and  reluctant  to  give  new  expression  to  the  truths  which 
science  corrects.*  It  was  well  enough,  in  a  certain  state  of  knowl- 
edge, to  call  thunder  the  voice  of  God,  but  there  comes  a  time 
when  discoveries  in  electricity  necessitate  a  more  exactly  descriptive 
name,  and  theologians  hesitate  to  adopt  the  change.  Or,  to  take 
•an  extreme  case,  the  doctrine  of  election,  which  is  the  theological 
expression  of  a  great  scientific  truth.  It  would  be  now  possible  to 
state  that  doctrine  in  such  a  manner,  that  no  intelligent  person 
could  refuse  to  assent  to  it,  unless  he  were  a  theologian  of  the  old 
school.  Some  theologians  now,  all  theologians  formerly,  evince  a 
repugnance  to  the  discoveries  which  modify  the  language  of  a  creed, 
which  demand  a  new  expression  of  religious  truths,  in  their  essence 
unchangeable.  Copernicus,  Gahleo,  Kepler,  Newton,  Franklin,  all 
experienced  the  aversion  of  theologians  to  scientific  discovery,  and  / 
each  of  them  felt  himself  called  upon  to  show  that  the  progress  of 
science  was  not  incompatible  with  the  preservation  of  faith. 

One  of  the  most  distressing  consequences  of  hardening  benign 
religion  down  into  an  orthodoxy,  is,  that  it  is  apt,  for  a  time,  to  re- 
pel the  very  intellects  which  are  naturally  most  inclined  to  virtue, 
and  v/hich  could  do  most  for  its  advancement.  Religion's  self  has 
never  had,  has  not  and  never  will  have,  formidable  or  numerous 
enemies.  But  an  orthodoxy  is  likely  to  find  in  every  young,  fear- 
less and  ingenuous  soul,  a  questioner,  who  is  thus  drawn  away 
from  the  serious  pursuit  of  goodness  to  a  painful  and  needless  con. 
fiict  of  opinions.  Such  souls  cannot  be  made  to  believe  that  there 
can  be  such  a  thing  as  a  wicked  opinion ;  they  must  and  will  think 
freely ;  and  in  their  resentment  against  the  odium  excited  against 
them  for  heterodoxy,  they  are  apt,  for  a  while,  to  disregard  the 
regenerating   truths    which    the    orthodoxy    does   really    contain, 

*  Herbert  Spencer's  "First  Principles." 


62  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [l722. 

though  it  may  express  them  in  a  manner  that  has  become  unsuit- 
able.. 

rBi  such  a  place  as  Boston  was  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  to 
such  a  lad  as  Franklin  was  in  his  sixteenth  year,  there  is  no  escape 
from  the  conflict.  He  must  take  into  consideration  the  tremen- 
dous claims  of  his  native  doxy,  and  that  consideration  will  be  con- 
tinued till  it  results  either  in  humble  assent,  or  complete  dissent. 
Boston,  it  is  true,  had  been  constantly  growing  less  intolerant. 
Ninety  years  had  passed  since  the  last  pair  of  ears  had  been  cut  off, 
the  last  nose  slit,  the  last  tongue  bored,  the  last  face  branded,  for 
words  spoken  or  opinions  held.  It  was  eighty  years  since  a  man 
was  banished  for  disbelieving  in  the  doctrine  of  original  sin.  It 
was  seventy  years  since  the  Quaker  women  were  imprisoned  three 
days  without  food,  then  "  whipped  with  a  threefold  knotted  whip, 
tearing  off  their  flesh,"  then  banished,  and  doomed  to  die  if  they 
returned.  Forty  years  had  passed  since  twenty-seven  Quakers,  of 
whom  six  were  women,  were  publicly  whipped  within  eight  days. 
For  thirty  years  the  service  of  the  Church  of  England  had  been 
permitted  to  be  performed  in  the  town.  When  Franklin  was  born, 
fourteen  years  had  elapsed  since  the  great  execution  of  witches  at 
Salem.  Men  and  women  were,  however,  still  obliged  to  confess 
before  the  congregation ;  no  man  could  hold  office  who  was  not  a 
member  of  the  established  church;  it  was  a  criminal  offense  for 
people  to  ride  or  children  to  play  on  Sundays ;  and  to  worship  ac- 
cording to  the  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church  was  a  capital  offense. 
For  any  one  openly  to  call  in  question  any  of  the  leading  doctrines 
of  the  prevailing  sect  required  such  a  degree  of  courage,  that  we 
know  not  whether  to  style  it  rashness  or  heroism.* 

Still,  in  every  neighborhood  of  New  England,  from  a  very  early 
period,  there  was  a  little  circle  of  secret  dissenters.  Secret  they 
were  obliged  to  be.  One  Mr.  Blackstone,  in  1640,  dared  to  say 
that  he  had  left  England  because  he  did  not  like  the  Lord  Bishops, 
and  he  would  not  join  the  church  in  Boston  because  ]ie  would  not 
be  under  the  Lord  Brethren.  The  Lord  Brethren  did  not  slit  the 
nose  of  this  honest  man,  but  they  made  Boston  so  uncomfortable 
to  him  that  he  was  glad  at  last  to  move  into  the  wilderness.f     In 

*  See  Drakc^s  "History  of  Boston,"  pp.  127,  252,  308,  33T,  343,  351,  352,  355,  3T9,  428,  429,  467, 
495,  504,  546,  etc. 
t  Snowe's  "History  of  Boston." 


ACiED  16.]  HE    READS    SHAFTESBURY    AND    COLLINS.  63 

later  days,  though  the  Lord  Brethren  had  their  lists  of  forbidden 
books,  it  is  known  that  the  English  deists  produced  nothing,  how- 
ever audaciously  heterodox,  that  did  not  immediately  find  its  way 
to  a  coterie  of  disciples  in  Boston.  By  the  time  John  Adams  was 
a  young  man,  that  is,  about  1750,  these  writers,  Anthony  Collins, 
Lord  Shaftesbury,  Lord  Bolingbroke,  and  others,  appear  to  have 
made  half  a  conquest  of  the  intellect  of  New  England.* 

It  was  not  the  books  of  these  authors  that  first  made  young 
Franklin  a  doubter.  Several  years  before  he  was  born,  Robert 
Boyle,  the  youngest  son  of  an  Irish  earl,  a  man  of  good  estate  and 
extremely  religious,  founded,  at  Oxford,  the  "  Boyle  lecture,"  which 
was  "  designed  to  prove  the  truth  of  the  Christian  religion  among 
infidels."f  The  sermons  delivered  in  consequence  of  this  founda- 
tion were  published  from  time  to  time  in  separate  tracts,  some  of 
which  found  their  way  to  the  shelves  of  Josiah  Franklin,  and  so 
reached  the  hands  of  Benjamin,  his  son.  These  discourses  the  lad 
read  when  he  was  scarcely  fifteen,  and  they  produced  upon  his 
mind  an  effect  the  contrary  of  that  intended,  by  the  pious  authors. 
The  arguments  of  the  deists,  which  were  quoted  in  order  to  be  re- 
futed, seemed  to  the  daring  mind  of  this  young  printer  to  be 
stronger  than  the  refutations.  William  Pitt  is  said  to  have 
remarked  that  even  Butler's  "Analogy"  "raises  more  doubts  than 
it  solves."  It  is  also  a  fact,  that  the  men  most  noted,  in  modern 
times,  for  their  repugnance  to  established  creeds,  such  as  Gibbon, 
Hume,  Shelley,  and  many  others,  were  in  their  boyhood  made  > 
acquainted  with  controversial  writings. 

From  the  Boyle  refutations  to  the  works  refuted,  was  a  natural 
transition.  Shaftesbury  and  Collins  were  the  deistical  authors  who 
were  most  influential  upon  the  mind  of  the  youth. 

Anthony  Collins  was  the  Colenso  of  his  day.  A  famous  and  ter- 
rible name  when  Franklin  was  a  boy,  though  now  nearly  forgotten. 
A  writer  in  "Essays  and  Reviews"  counts  thirty-five  answers  to 
one  of  the  works  of  Collins.  He  was  of  ancient  family  and  compe- 
tent fortune,  educated  at  Eton  and  Cambridge,  a  man  of  extensive 
reading  rather  than  great  and  exact  knowledge,  endowed  with  ex- 
cellent talents  and  an  amiable  disposition.  He  wrote  essays  and 
dissertations  upon  the  Use  of  Reason,  upon  Priestcraft,  upon  Free- 

*  "Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,"  i.,  87  to  42. 
t  Allibone's  "  Dictionary  of  Authors,"  i.,  232. 


64  JAFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l'722. 

thinking,  upon  Liberty  and  I^ecessity,  upon  the  Grounds  and  Rea- 
sons of  the  Christian  Religion,  and  upon  the  Prophecies  ;  his  object 
in  all  being  to  purge  the  Christian  religion  from  what  he  conceived 
to  be  the  errors  of  a  barbarous  antiquity.  The  popular  belief  in 
miracles,  and  particularly  the  doctrine  of  the  miraculous  production 
of  the  works  composing  the  Bible,  were  the  objects  of  his  constant 
attack.  Dr.  A.  Carlyle  speaks  of  him  as  "  the  author  of  one  of  the 
shrewdest  books  against  revealed  religion,"  and  he  quotes  approv- 
ingly the  remark  of  Sir  James  Dalrymple,  who  said  that  Anthony 
Collins  was  one  of  the  best  men  he  had  ever  known,  and  practiced 
every  Christian  virtue  without  believing  in  the  Gospel.*  Dr. 
Priestley  said  that  he  had  learned  from  Collins  "  the  doctrine  of  ne- 
cessity," which  "greatly  improved  his  disposition  to  piety,  and 
freed  it  from  that  rigor  with  which  it  had  been  tinctured."!  He 
must  have  been  a  man  of  extraordinary  worth  to  have  been  so  ten- 
derly and  so  long  beloved  as  he  was  by  Locke. 

Some  of  the  leading  positions  of  Collins  were  these : 

1.  The  Old  Testament  alone  is  claimed  by  Christ  and  his  Apos- 
tles to  be  authoritative  or  canonical. 

2.  The  New  Testament  has,  therefore,  no  authority  ;  it  is  merely 
a  record  of  facts,  to  be  judged  by  ordinary  rules. 

3.  The  New  Testament  is  claimed  to  be  the  fulfillment  of  prophe- 
cies in  the  Old.  But  the  prophecies  in  the  Old  Testament  apply  to 
other  events  quite  as  well  as  to  those  recorded  in  the  New  Testament. 

As  an  example  of  his  manner  of  treating  this  subject,  the  follow- 
ing passage  will  suffice : 

"Matthew  says,  Jesus  came  a7id  chcelt  at  Nazareth,  that  it 
might  be  fulfill'd,  which  was  spoken  by  the  Prophets  saying,  '  He 
shall  be  called  a  Nazarene.'  Which  Citation  does  not  expressly 
occur  in  any  Place  of  the  Old  Testament,  and  therefore  cannot  be 
hterally  fulfill'd. 

"  Jesus  says  of  John  the  Baptist,  '  This  is  the  Elias  that  was  for  to 
come.'  Wherein  he  is  supposed  to  refer  to  these  words  of  Malachi, 
'Behold  1  will  send  you  Elijah  the  prophet  before  the  coming  of  the 
great  and  terrible  Day  of  the  Lord  ;'  which,  according  to  their 
literal  sense,  is  a  Prophecy  that  Elijah  or  Elias  was  to  come  in  Per- 
son, and  therefore  were  not  literally  but  mystically  fulfill'd  in  John 
the  Baptist. 

*  "Autobiography  of  Dr.  A.  Cariyle,"  p.  171.  t  "  Lifo  of  Dr.  Priestley,"  i.,  19. 


AGED  16.]  HE    READS    SHAFTESBURY   AND    COLLINS.  65 

"  Again  Jesus  cites  this  Prophecy  of  Isaiah,  '  By  hearing,  ye  shall 
hear  and  shall  not  understand ;'  and  he  assures  us,  that  it  was  ful- 
fill'd  in  his  Time  in  those  to  whom  he  spoke  in  Parables  ;  tho'  it  is 
manifest,  that,  according  to  the  literal  Sense,  it  relates  to  the  obsti- 
nate Jews,  who  lived  in  the  Time  of  Isaiah. 

"  In  fine,  the  Prophecies,  cited  from  the  Old  Testament  by  the  Au- 
thors of  the  New,  do  plainly  relate,  in  their  obvious  and  primary 
Sense,  to  other  Matters  than  those  which  they  are  produced  to 
prove."* 

•  Much  might  be  said  respecting  the  kind  of  argument  employed 
by  Collins  ;  but  it  only  concerns  us  here  to  note,  that  for  Franklin 
to  read  this  ingenious  author  was  equivalent  to  his  being  convinced 
by  him ;  for  there  never  lived  a  boy  of  sixteen  capable  of  refuting 
Anthony  Collins.  Doubtless  the  amiable  character  of  the  man,  his 
evident  sincerity  and  earnestness,  his  perfect  courtesy  toward  oppo- 
nents, and  the  brutal  abuse  heaped  upon  him  by  the  ferocious  Bent- 
ley  and  other  hirelings  of  the  hierarchy,  all  tended  to  strengthen 
his  hold  upon  the  generous  mind  of  our  printer's  apprentice.  Col- 
lins, too,  was  an  eloquent  pleader  for  liberty  of  utterance,  of  which 
the  grandson  of  Peter  Folger  could  not  have  failed  to  be  an  advo- 
cate. I  know  not  whether  Ave  have  yet  lived  up  to  the  sentiments 
of  Anthony  Collins  on  this  subject :  "  Would  not,"  he  asks, 
"  every  Man  of  Understanding  and  Honesty  be  glad  to  know  the 
most  intimate  Thoughts  of  such  Men  as  Hooker,  Hales,  Cpiil- 
LiNGWORTH,  Mede,  Wilkins,  Wiiitchcot,  More,  Cudworth, 
Spencer,  Tillotson,  Bacon,  Falkland,  Selden,  Milton,  Marsh- 
am,  Boyle,  Temple  and  Locke,  (for  Example)  and  be  sorry  that 
such  like  Men  ever  have  been,  or  are,  under  any  Pestraints  from 
speaking  their  Minds,  and  wish  that  they  might  speak  their  Minds 
on  all  important  Questions  in  Philosophy  and  Theology  ?  " 

The  question  is  as  applicable  and  as  interesting  to-day  as  it  was  a 
hundred  and  forty  years  ago.  Instead  of  those  names,  insert 
eighteen  names  of  the  men  of  the  present  age,  and  the  question 
comes  home  to  us  with  power. 

Men,  continues  Collins,  have  nothing  whatever  to  fear  from  per- 
fect freedom  of  debate,  but  every  thing  to  hope.     He  asks  : 

"Would  Tran substantiation  pass  in  France  \Vithout  an  Attack 

*  "  Grounds  and  Reasons  of  the  Christian  Religion,"  p.  42. 


66  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l722. 

upon  it,  if  Men  cou\di  freely  write  against  it  ?  Would  Truth  suffer 
there,  if  that  Doctrine  were  allowed  to  be  a  Subject  of  Debate  ? 
Could  that  Doctrine  keep  the  Ground  it  now  has  there,  under  free 
Debate  ?  Would  its  Falsehood,  set  forth  in  the  utmost  Light,  have 
no  Effect  on  the  Understandings  of  the  polite  and  ingenious  French 
Nation^  Nay,  is  there  any  Thing,  that  keeps  up  that  Absurdity, 
and  stifles  the  Light  of  Truth,  but  Authority?  And  are  not  the 
Popish  Ecclesiasticks  so  sensible  of  the  Force  of  Truth,  and  so 
particularly  fearful  of  losing  the  Pearl  of  great  Price,  the  darling 
Doctrine  of  Transubstantiation,  that  no  Man  can  with  Safety,  where 
they  have  Influence,  to  his  Person,  Fortune,  and  Reputation,  call 

it  in  Question  ?  ,     -r  m  i,    -d 

"Did  Popery  get  any  Ground  in  England,  by  the  Liberty  the  Pa- 
pists had  in  the  Reign  of  King  James  the  second,  to  publish  what- 
ever they  pleased  in  Behalf  of  their  Religion?  On  the  contrary, 
was  not  Popery  more  exposed  to  Scorn  and  Contempt  by  bemg  the 
Subject  of  Debate,  than  if  nothing  had  been  wrote  in  Behalf  ol  it  i 
"Does  Protestantism  decay  in  Holland,  where  not  only  the  Pa- 
pists themselves  print  what  Apologies  and  controversial  Treatxses 
thev  please,  but  where  the  Booksellers  print  all  manner  of  Popish 
Books,  for  which  there  is  any  Demand,  and  by  Consequence  chuse 
such  Books  chiefly,  which  the  Papists  themselves  deem  most  strenu. 
ously  written. 

-For  if  Debates  are  free.  That  is,  if  no  Man  gets  or  loses  hyi 
maintaining  particular  Opinions,  the  grand  Motives  which  make^ 
Men  disturb  one  another  about  Opinions,  will  cease;  and  they  will 
insensibly  fall  into  a  due  Temper  of  Mind,  (which  Force  can  never 
procure)  and  be  no  more  angry  with  one  another  on  Account  of  1 
different  Sentiments,  than  for  different  Features  of  their  Faces,  or, 
for  different  Proportions  of  their  Bodies."  ,,         .,  ,  ,;,,„ 

"Into  what  Feuds  did  the  City  of  Hamburg  run  (to  omit  a  thou- 
sand  other  Instances)  on  Occasion  of  a  Dispute  between  fo  Mn- 
Iters,  whether  in  the  Lord^s  Prayer  the  first  W--<i^;^  ^^^^  f^^^^^^ 
translated  Our  Father,  ov  Father  Our;  under  whom  the  Citizen, 
were  worked  up  into  great  Heat  and  Flame  agamst  one  anothc^n 
and  at  length  divided  themselves  into  Parties,  that  fought  daily  ni 
the  Streets  ?  Nothing  of  which  could  happen  under  Liberty  and  . 
free  Debate;  to  which  it  is  absolutely  necessary  (as  I  before  ob 


/LGED  16.]  HE    READS    SHAFTESBURY    AND    COLLINS.  6*7 

served)  that  no  Man  get  or  lose  by  maintaining  either  side  of  a 
Question.  ***** 

"  While  Home  was  in  the  Height  of  its  Glory  for  Arms,  Learn- 
ing, and  Politeness,  there  were  six  hundred  different  Beligions  * 
profess'd  and  allowed  therein.  And  this  great  Variety  does  not 
appear  to  have  had  the  least  Effect  on  the  Peace  of  the  State,  or  on 
the  Temper  of  Men ;  but,  on  the  contrary,  a  very  good  Effect ;  for 
there  is  an  intire  Silence  in  History  about  the  Actions  of  those 
antient  Professors,  who,  it  seems,  lived  so  quietly  together  as  to 
furnish  no  Materials  for  an  Ecclesiastical  History^  such  as  Chris- 
tians have  given  Occasion  for,  which  a  reverend  Divine  thus  de- 
scribes, '  Ecclesiastical  History^  says  he,  is  chiefly  spent  in  reciting 

*  the  wild  Opinions  of  Hereticks  [That  is,  in  belying  Jlereticks)  ;  the 
'  Contentions  between  Emperors  and  Popes ;   the  idle  and  supersti- 

*  tious  Canons,  and  ridiculous  Decrees  and  Constitutions  of  pack'd 
'  Councils,  their  Debates  about  frivolous  Matters,  and  playing  the 
'  Fool  with  Religion  ;  the  Consultations  of  Synods  about  augmenting 

*  the  Revenues  of  the  Clergy,  and  establishing  their  Pride  and  Gran- 
'  deur ;  the  Impostures  of  Monks  and  Fryars ;  the  Schisms  and 
'Factions  of  the  Church;  the  Tyranny,  Cruelty,  and  Impiety  of  the 

*  Clergy  ;  insomuch  that  the  excellent  Grotius  says,  he  that  reads 

*  ecclesiastical  History  reads  nothing  but  the  Roguery  and  Folly  of 
'  Bishops  and  Churchmen.'* 

"  If  some  great  Genius  would  but  give  an  Account  of  the  Ac- 
tions of  these  Men  (who  may  be  properly  called  Saint-erra7its)  in 
the  Life  and  Adventures  of  some  renown'd  persecuting  Prince  or 
Ecclesiastic^,  who  has  spent  his  Time  in  promoting  and  establish 
ing  Uniformity  in  Whimsies,  Dress,  and  Forms ;  as  the  great  Cer- 
vantes has  done  of  Knight-errantry,  in  the  Life  and  Actions  of 
Don  Quixote,  who  spent  his  Time  in  Adventures  to  free  the  World 
of  Monsters,  and  to  tame  Gyants,  and  all  in  Honour  of  Dulcinea 
Del  Tonoso,  whom,  though  homely  and  agreeable  only  to  his  de- 
raved  Taste,  all  the  World  should  be  obliged  to  bow  down  before 
nd  to  admire,  as  a  consummate  Beauty;  he  might  give  us  a  more 
useful  and  entertaining  Work  than  Cervantes  has  done.  Saint- 
errantry  is  a  more  common  and  natural  Enthusiasm  than  Knight- 
errantry,  which  was  an  Enthusiasm  but  of  Yesterday,  and  of  small 

*  "  Lipsius  de  Magn.  Eom,,"  1.  4,  c.  5. 


68  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l722. 

Duration  and  Extent ;  and  therefore,  Saint-errantry  has  furnished 
Materials  in  almost  all  Ages,  and  infinite  Materials  in  particular 
Ages,  which  are  recorded  in  Mistory^  but  especially  in  ecclesiastical 
History.''^ 

"  Opinions,  how  erroneous  soever,  when  the  Effect  of  an  impar- 
tial Examination,  will  never  hurt  Men  in  the  Sight  of  God,  but  will 
recommend  Men  to  his  Favour.  For  impartial  Examination  in  the 
Matter  of  Opinion  is  the  best  that  a  Man  can  do  towards  obtain- 
ing Truth;  and  God,  who  is  a  wise,  good,  and  just  Being,  can  re- 
quire no  more  of  Men  than  to  do  their  best,  and  will  reward  them 
when  they  do  their  best ;  and  he  would  be  the  most  unjust  Being 
imaginable,  if  he  punished  Men,  who  had  done  their  best  Endeav- 
our to  please  him.  Besides,  if  Men  were  to  be  punished  by  God 
for  mistaken  Opinions,  all  Men  must  be  damn'd ;  for  all  Men  abound 
in  mistaken  Opinions." 

These  paragraphs  will  serve  to  show  something  of  the  spirit  and 
manner  of  an  author  who  proved  so  engaging  to  Franklin  in  his 
sixteenth  year.  With  what  transport  must  he  have  read  such  sen- 
timents in  the  Boston  of  that  day  ! 

There  was  another  writer  whose  tracts  and  essays  came  out,  from 
time  to  time,  during  the  first  twenty  years  of  Franklin's  life,  whom 
we  know  he  read  ;  and  whom,  we  may  infer,  he  read  with  the  keen- 
est relish.  This  was  the  Earl  of- Shaftesbury,  grandson  of  the  first 
Earl  of  Shaftesbury,  the  dissolute,  brilliant  statesman  to  whom  we 
owe  the  Habeas  Coi-pus  Act.  The  third  earl,  the  author  of  the 
"  Characteristics,"  was  a  man  of  stainless  life,  and  generous,  noble  na- 
ture. He  differed  from  his  grandfather  in  another  particular.  Of 
the  first  earl  it  is  related,  that  he  was  once  overheard  to  say,  that 
men  of  sense  were  all  of  one  religion.  "And  what  religion  is  that  ?" 
inquired  a  lady.  "  That,  Madame,"  replied  the  earl,  with  a  bow, 
"  men  of  sense  never  tell."  The  third  earl,  compelled  to  retire 
from  public  life  b}^  the  failure  of  his  health,  spent  the  leisure  hours 
of  many  years  in  writing  essays,  which  left  little  occasion  for  any 
one  to  inquire  respecting  his  religion.  We  cannot  dwell  upon  this 
part  of  our  subject.  Any  one  who  will  turn  over  an  edition  of 
Shaftesbury,  and  try  to  read  it  with  the  mind  of  this  merry  and  re- 
ceptive printer's  boy,  will  perceive  how  entirely  captivating  it  must 
have  been  to  him.  The  raillery  that  was  always  the  raillery  of  a 
gentleman ;  the  irony,  so  delicate  as  really  to  deceive  some  menj 


AGED  16.]  HE    READS    SHAFTESBURY    AND    COLLINS.  69 

who  passed  for  acute ;  the  fine  urbanity  that  pervades  even  the 
passages  called  severe;  the  genuine  reverence  of  the  author  for 
virtue  ;  the  spectacle  revealed  of  a  man  uniting  in  himself  all  that 
is  good  in  saints  with  all  that  is  agreeable  in  a  man  of  the  world — how 
pleasing  it  must  all  have  been  to  our  inky  apprentice,  as  he  munched 
ills  noon-day  crust.  Shaftesbury  is  obsolete  now;  he  has  even 
ceased  to  be  interesting.  We  have  reached  another  stage  of  the 
eternal  controversy.  He  can  only  please  the  present  generation  as 
a  rehc  of  the  past  pleases  it  ;  as  the  sword  of  John  of  Gaunt,  or 
the  armor  of  the  Black  Prince,  interests  men  who  carry  revolvers 
and  patent  rifles.  But,  perhaps,  young  Franklin  never  read  any 
works  with  keener  zest  than  the  "Inquiry  Concerning  Virtue"  and  the 
"  Essay  on  the  Freedom  of  Wit  and  Humor,"  by  Lord  Shaftesbury. 

It  should  be  mentioned,  perhaps,  that  Shaftesbury  had  a  consid- 
erable popularity,  a  hundred  years  ago,  among  the  clergymen  who 
had  capacity  enough  to  discriminate  between  the  essentials  and  the 
non-essentials  of  Christianity.  Dr.  A.  Carlyle  records,  in  his  autobi- 
ooraphy,  that  even  a  professor  of  divinity  in  the  university  of  Edin- 
burgh was  "  a  great  admirer  of  Shaftesbury,  and  adopted  much  of 
Ills  writings  into  his  lectures;  and,  to  recommend  him  more  to  his 
students,  was  at  great  pains  in  private  to  prove  that  the  noble  mor- 
ilist  was  no  enemy  to  the  Christian  religion ;  but  that  all  appear- 
nnces  of  that  kind,  which  are  very  numerous  in  his  works,  flowed 
only  from  an  excess  of  generous  indignation  against  the  fanatics  of 
Charles  the  First's  reign." 

Enemy  to  the  Christian  religion !  The  essence  of  Shaftesbury  is 
3ontained  in  the  last  paragraph  of  the  work  into  which  he  put  most 
f  his  mind,  most  of  his  heart,  and  most  of  his  labor — the  "Inquiry 
Concerning  Virtue." 

"  Thus,  the  Wisdom  of  what  rales  and  is  First  and  Chief  in  na- 
:ure,  has  made  it  to  be  according  to  the  private  interest  and  good 
3f  every  one  to  work  toward  the  general  good;  which,  if  a  creature 
seases  to  promote,  he  is  actually  so  far  wanting  to  hhnself^  and 
seases  to  promote  his  own  happiness  and  welfare.  He  is,  on  this 
iccount,  directly  his  own  enemy ;  nor  can  he  otherwise  be  good  or 
isefal  to  himself  than  as  he  continues  good  to  society,  and  to  that 
Whole  of  which  he  is  himself  a  part.  So  that  Virtue,  which  of  aE. 
excellencies  and  beauties  is  the  chief  and  most  amiable ;  that  which 
upholds  communities,  and  maintains  union,  friendship,  and  corre- 


70  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1722. 

spondence  among  men  ;  that,  by  which  countries  as  well  as  private 
families  flourish  and  are  happy  ;  and  for  want  of  which  every  thmg 
comely,  conspicuous,  great,  and  worthy,  must  perish  or  go  to  rum ; 
that  single  quality,  thus  beneficial  to  society  and  to  raankmd  m 
general,  is  found  equally  a  happiness  and  good  to  each  creature  m 
particular ;  and  is  that  by  which  alone  man  can  be  happy,  and  with- 
out  which  he  must  be  miserable.  And  thus  Virtue  is  the  good,  and 
Vice  the  ill,  of  every  one."  .    i  i. 

The  heresy  of  Shaftesbury  consists  chiefly  in  an  ironical  paragraph 
here  and  there,  mildly  ridicuUng  the  doctrine  of  the  miraculous  pro- 
duction of  the  Bible.  He  has  also  some  serious  observations  to  the 
effect  that  there  is  no  necessary  connection  between  religion  and 
virtue.  The  substance  of  his  teaching  is  this :  Be  good  ;  and  pay  to 
the  Church  a  decent  show  of  respect,  as  a  part  of  the  state  of 
things  necessary  at  present  to  the  integrity  of  the  British  empire, 
and  belonging  to  its  imperfect  civilization ;  and,  as  to  the  Creed, 
deny  nothing,  assert  nothing,  laugh  at  it,  or  let  it  alone. 

The  result  of  all  these  heretical  teachings  was,  that,  before  the 
apprentice  was  sixteen  years  old,  he  had  become,  to  use  his  own 
words,  "  a  thorough  deist."  .         i>     -t  •+ 

The  word  «  deist"  has  long  ago  got  out  of  general  use,famihar  as  it- 
was  to  our  great-grandfathers,  and  not  less  awful  than  familiar.  Per- 
haps, a  representative  deist  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago  might- 
have  defined  the  word  thus:  A  deist  is  a  Christian  who  has  become  in- 
capable of  believing  in  a  miracle.  Probably,  aU  of  this  zealous  sect 
would  have  assented  to  Humboldt's  well-known  summary :  "All  pos- 
itive religions,"  says  Humboldt,  "contain  three  distinct  parts:  first, 
a  code  of  morals,  very  pure,  and  nearly  the  same  in  all ;  next,  a  ge- 
oloo-ical  dream;  and,  thirdly,  a  myth  or  historical  novelette,  which! 
last  becomes  the  most  important  of  all."*  Collins,  Shaftesbury, 
Gibbon,  Hume,  Voltaire,  Bolingbroke,  Jefferson,  and  Franklm  m 
his  sixteenth  year,  would  all  doubtless  have  smiled  approvmgly  ifl 
they  had  heard  these  words. 

Franklin,  for  one,  found  his  now  belief,  or  rather,  his  new  un- 

/  belief,  lamentably  inadequate  to  the  moral  wear  and  tear  of  life. 

It  made  him  conceited,  and  left  him  an  easy  prey  to  temptation.. 

For  some  years,  he  wandered  in  heathenish  darkness.     He  forsool^ 

*  "  Letters  of  Humboldt  to  V.  Von  Ense."    Letter  60th. 


AGED  16.]  HE   READS   SHAFTESBURY   AND    COLLINS.  71 

the  safe  and  good,  though  narrow  ways  of  his  forefathers,  and  of 
his  father  and  mother,  and  his  gentle  Uncle  Benjamin,  without 
finding  better  and  larger  ways  of  his  own.  He  was  in  danger  of 
becoming  a  castaway,  or  a  commonplace  successful  man  of  the 
world.  He  found,  in  due  time,  after  many  trials,  and  much  suffer- 
ing, and  many  grievous  errors,  that  the  soul  of  man  does  not  thrive 
upon  negations,  and  that,  in  very  truth,  a  man  must  believe  in  order 
to  be  saved.  On  the  other  hand,  he  escaped  the  theology  of  ter- 
ror, and  became  forever  incapable  of  worshiping  a  jealous,  re- 
vengeful, and  vindictive  Gpd-^the  God  of  the  Lord  Brethren  of 

Boston*    Ai  in    ^>H4vOM*1(^  I 

Situated  as  her  was,  and  being  the  lad  he  was,  there  was  no 
escape  from  this  painful  and  perilous  experience.  It  was  not  his 
fault,  that  his  elders  supported  immortal  truths  on  ^(nwtenabLe 
grounds,  and  demanded  that  he  should  save  his  soul  by  ^efi^dag. 
his  understanding.  It  was  nobody's  fault.  It  is  human  to 'be 
blind  and  weak,  ignorant  and  fearful;  and  it  is  only  by  the  re- 
bellion of  bolder  and  keener  spirits  that  our  horizon  is  enlarged 
and  our  fear  allayed.  But  rebellion,  in  itself  considered,  is  an  evil. 
'We  see,  in  the  ancient  writings,  that  the  revolters  against  the 
mythology  of  Greece  and  Rome  experienced  moral  injury,  as  well 
as  social  inconveniences,  similar  to  those  which  attend  a  questioning 
of  modern  creeds.  Nor  have  the  American  people  recovered  from 
all  the  moral  damage  incurred  in  their  most  just  and  necessary  re- 
bellion against  George  the  Third.     •     t^ 

How  Franklin  emerged  at  length  from  the  shades  of  denial  into 
thedight  of  belief;  and  from  wandering  in  the  wilderness,  aimless, 
unto  the  Canaan  of  orderly,  noble  endeavor,  we  shall  see,  at  the 
proper  time.  For  the  present  he  remains  a  thorough  deist,  exces- 
sively fond  of  perplexing  the  unwary  believer  by  involving  him  in*' 
self-contradictions,  after  the  manner  of  Socrates.  His  friend,  John 
Collins,  was  brought  over  to  deism.  There  are  reasons  for  believing 
that  James  Franklin  was  something  of  a  deist  also — at  least,  no 
friend  to  the  Lord  Brethren.  Their  father,  we  may  infer  from  one 
of  his  later  letters,  had  no  suspicion  then  of  the  change  that  had 
occurred  in  Benjamin's  opinions. 

While  the  apprentice  was  thus  reveling  in  his  books,  extracting 
from  each  all  its  honey  and  some  of  its  poison,  his  brother's  business 
was  expanding,  and  events  were  occurring  which  influenced  the 


72  LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1722. 

destinies  of  both.  These  audacious  young  printers,  while  the 
younger  of  the  two  was  only  sixteen,  found  themselves,  as  might 
have  beeii  anticipated,  in  collision  with  the  Lord  Brethren. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

THE  FIRST   SENSATION  NEWSPAPER. 

There  was  talk  of  a  second  newspaper  in  Boston  when  Benja- 
min had  served  a  year  of  his  apprenticeship,  and  James  Frankhn 
had  hopes  of  being  employed  to  print  it.  ,         .        ^      .  i 

Nothing  made  slower  progress  in  Colonial  America  than  journal- 
ism The  date  of  the  first  London  newspaper  is  1622  :  of  the  hrst 
French  newspaper,  1632;*  of  the  first  Scotch  newspaper,  1654; 
of  the  first  L-ish  newspaper,  1685.  The  first  American  newspaper 
appeared  at  Boston,  on  Thursday,  the  twenty-fifth  of  September, 
1690.  It  was  a  sheet  of  four  pages,  each  page  seven  mches  wide 
and  eleven  long;  two  columns  on  a  page,  and  the  last  page  blank 
At  the  top  of  the  first  page  were  printed,  in  large  letters,  the  word. 
"Publick  Occurrences,  both  Foreign  and  Domestic.  It  was  dc^ 
signed  to  be  published  once  a  month,  or  oftener,  -  if  any  glut  of 
occurrences  happens. "f 

*  Hunt's  "  Fourth  Estate,"  i.,  10, 20. 

+  Tlip  f.illowino-  is  a  copy  of  the  Prospectus : 

+  The  following         ^^  py  ^^^^  occuekexcks,  fokeigk  akd  bomestick. 

our  JSTotice.  .     ^        ^  ^^  oMain  a  Faithful  PwClationJ 

In  order  here  urUo,  the  Pubhsher  w^ll  taU  ^^f  .^^^^^^^^ 'f^n  to  sneli  Persons  in  Boston. 
of  all  .uch  things ;  and  ^ill  particularly  ^-^^;.;^ll%^^^^^ 

Llu>rnhe  Mows  to  ha.e  ^^^-f<>;:f^2''mrrT^^^^^^  '^  ^^^^  ^^"^^^^^^"^^ 

That  which  is  herem  proposed,  *«' J^^. '  f^^^^^^^.     Secondly,  that  people  everywhere 

r^raynot  he  negUcted  or  forgoUen,  a    ^^^  J Jf^^J^^^l^fjii,^,,  Jtk  abroad  and  at  ho^no, 

ISl^^l^S'^r^^--^^  Lf^ntai^M  our  Infor^aUon.     A.. 


AGED  16.J  THE    FIKST    SENSATION    NEWSPAPER.  73 

The  first  number  contains-SfSvc'v  well  digested  paragraphs  of 
news,  of  which  thh'teen  relate  to  domestic  intelligence,  and  seven  to 
foreign.  There  is  no  advertisement,  and  nothing  of  the  nature  of  an 
editorial,  except  the  prospectus.  One  paragraph  arrests  the  eye  of 
every  one  that  glances  over  the  contents  of  this  sheet : 

"  We  have  News  here  that  K.  William  is  safe  arrived  in  Ireland, 
and  is  marched  with  one  hundred  and  forty  thousand  Foot  and 
Horse.  Himself  leads  the  body,  Duke  Scomburgh  the  right  Wing, 
and  the  Earl  of  Oxford  the  left  Wing.  Duke  Hamilton  of  Scotland 
leads  the  forlorn  Hope,  with  ten  thousand  men  under  him.  Great 
victory  they  daily  have,  and  much  people  daily  come  into  him  with 
submission ;  He  has  200  Shipping  with  him  of  one  sort  or  other, 
above  one  hundred  Sail  daily  run  between  Ireland  and  England,  with 
meat  for  Man  and  Beast ;  His  Majesty  being  unv^dlling  to  trust  lake 
Ireland  for  it." 

In  another  paragraph,  which  relates  the  failure  of  the  expedition 
led  by  Sir  William  Phipps  against  Canada,  the  editor  mentions- - 
07ily  mentions — that  a  misunderstanding  had  arisen  between  Gen. 
Winthrop,  of  Massachusetts,  and  the  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New 
York.  He  also  ventures  to  intimate  that  the  employment  of  Indians 
in  such  expeditious  may  be  unwise.  *'  And  if,"  he  adds,  "  Almighty 
God  will  have  Canada  to  be  subdued  without  the  assistance  of  those 
miserable  Salvages,  in  whom  we  have  too  much  confided,  we  shall  be 
glad  that  there  will  be  no  sacrifice  ofiered  up  to  the  Devil  upon  this 
occasion ;  God  alone  will  have  all  the  glory." 

Rash  man !  Four  days  after  the  appearance  of  this  harmless  and 
intei-esting  paper,  the  authorities  of  the  colony  declared  that  it  had 
come  out  contrary  to  law,  and  "  contained  reflections  of  a  very  high 
nature."  They  caused  its  suppression,  and  forbade  the  appearance 
of  any  thing  in  print,  unless  it  had  been  first  licensed.  Of  the  Pub- 
lic Occurrences^  therefore,  but  this  one  number  was  published.  Of 
that  number,  only  one  copy  is  known  to  exist,  which  is  in  the  Colo- 

ifhtn  there,  appeam  any  material  mistake  in  any  thing  that  is  collected,  it  shall  be  corrected 
171  the  next. 

Moreover,  t?i6  Publisher  of  these  Occurrences  is  willing  to  engas:e,  tJuii  whereas,  there  are 
many  False  Reports,  malieiou.^.ly  made,  and  spread  amtrng  u.%  if  any  well  ')ninded  person 
will  be  at  theijaina  to  trace  any  auch  false  Report,  so  far  as  to  find  out  and  Convict  the  First 
Raiser  of  it,  he  will  in  thit  Paper  {u7iless  just  Advice  be  given  tg  the  contrary')  expose  tlis 
Name  of  such  Persoji  as  A  malicious  Raiser  of  a  False  Report.  It  is  supposed  that  none  will 
dislike  this  Proposal,  bateueh  as  intend  to  he  guilty  of  so  villanoits  a  Crim^e.'" 

4 


V4  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMINT   FRANKLIN.  [l722. 

nial  State  Paper  Office,  in  London,  where  it  was  discovered,  a  few 
years  ago,  by  Dr.  J.  B.  Felt,  author  of  the  "  Annals  of  Salem."* 

The  offense  of  the  editor  of  this  paper  appears  to  have  been,  not 
that  he  had  printed  any  thing  false  or  injurious,  but  that  he,  a  mere 
printer,  had  presumed  to  discourse  at  all  of  such  high  matters  as 
warlike  expeditions,  and  such  high  personages  as  kings,  governors, 
and  generals. 

Whoever  and  whatever  is  destined  to  attain  supreme  power  in 
the  world  passes  through  its  period  of  martyrdom.  It  is  necessary 
for  the  reader  of  these  pages  to  understand,  that  the  probation  of  the 
press  by  blood  and  torture  was  not  half  over  in  1690.  Only  twenty- 
seven  years  had  elapsed  since  the  following  scene  had  occurred  in 
London  : 

The  place  was  a  court-room  in  the  Old  Bailey,  Chief  Justice 
Hyde  presiding.  The  prisoner  at  the  bar  was  a  printer,  named  John 
Gwyn,  a  poor  man,  with  a  wife  and  three  children.  Gwyn  was 
accused  of  printing  a  piece  which  criticised  the  conduct  of  the  gov- 
ernment, and  which  contained  these  words,  and  others  similar :  "  If 
the  magistrates  pervert  judgment,  the  people  are  bound  by  the  law 
of  God,  to  execute  judgment  without  them,  and  upon  them.'^''  This 
was  a  kind  of  justification  of  the  execution  of  Charles  L,  as  well  as 
a  threat  against  Charles  II.,  then  King  of  England,  The  poor  man 
protested  he  had  never  read  the  offensive  matter  ;  it  was  brought  to 
him  by  a  maid-servant ;  he  had  earned  forty  shillings  by  printing  it. 
When  he  was  pronounced  guilty,  he  humbly  begged  for  mercy, 
pleading  his  poverty,  his  young  children,  and  his  ignorance  of  the 
contents  of  the  paper.  "  I'll  tell  you  what  you  shall  do,"  roared  the 
brutal  sycophant  who  sat  on  the  bench,  "ask  mercy  of  them  that 
can  give  it — tliat  is,  of  God  and  the  King."  The  prisoner 
said  :  "  I  humbly  beseech  you  to  intercede  with  his  majesty  for 
mercy."  "Tie  him  up,  executioner,"  began  the  judge  in  reply.  "I 
speak  it  from  my  soul,  I  think  we  have  the  greatest  happiness  in 
the  world  in  enjoying  what  we  do  under  so  good  and  gracious  a 
king;  yet  you,  Gwyn,  in  the  rancor  of  your  heart,  thus  to  abuse 
him,  deserve  no  mercy."  After  some  further  expressions  of  the 
same  nature,  he  passed  upon  the  prisoner  this  sentence :     He  was 

*  "  Annals  of  Salem,"  p.  14  ;  "  N.  Y.  Ilistcrical  Mivgazine,"  vol.  i.,  No.  8  ;  Buckingham's  "  Sped 
mens  of  Newspaper  Literature,"  1.  The  "N.  Y.  Historical  ALigazine,"  vol,  i.,  No.  8,  contains 
a  copy  of  the  entire  contents  of  the  Public  Oceurrcnccs, 


AGED   IC.J  THE    FIRST   SENSATION    NEWSPAPER.  YS 

to  be  drawn  to  the  place  of  execution  upon  a  hurdle.  He  was  to  be 
hanged  by  the  neck.  While  still  alive,  he  was  to  be  cut  down,  cas- 
trated, and  disemboweled.  "And  you  still  living,"  concluded 
Hyde, — "  your  entrails  are  to  be  burnt  before  your  eyes  ;  your  head 
to  be  cut  off,  and  your  head  and  quarters  to  be  disposed  of  at  the 
pleasure  of  the  king's  majesty." 

Again  the  wretch,  in  his  great  horror  and  agony,  cried  to  the  judge 
to  intercede  for  him.  "  I  would  not  intercede,"  replied  the  ermined 
fiend,  "  for  my  own  father  in  this  case."  The  prisoner  was  removed. 
The  senteace  was  executed.  His  head  and  limbs  were  set  up  over 
the  gates  of  the  city.* 

It  was  in  1663  that  this  deed  was  done.  N"o  printer  afterward 
suffered  as  Gwyn  suffered ;  but  for  sixty  years  after  his  execu- 
tion, it  was  common  in  England  to  crop  the  ears  of  printers  and 
editors,  to  put  them  into  the  stocks  and  pillory,  to  flog  them  at  the 
cart's  tail,  and  to  hang  them  with  malefactors  at  Tyburn.  In  1719> 
when  Benjamin  Franklin  had  served  one  year  in  his  brother's  print- 
ing house,  John  Mathews,  a  youth  aged  nineteen,  was  executed  at 
Tyburn,  for  publishing  a  tract  in  favor  of  hereditary  right,  ^.  e.,  in 
favor  of  the  expelled  Stuarts.  He  appears  to  have  been  a  vain, 
harmless  boy,  who  had  written  his  pamphlet  from  the  conceit,  com- 
mon to  young  men,  of  differing  from  the  majority. 

We  cannot  wonder,  then,  that  in  ]!^ew  England  the  printing  press, 
from  the  beginning,  should  have  been  regarded  by  governors  and 
councils  in  the  light  of  a  spiritual  powder-magazine — as  something 
useful,  but  dangerous ;  to  be  held  in  honor ;  to  be  walled  about 
and  watched.  In  1640,  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  voted  "  Stee- 
ven  Day"  three  hundred  acres  of  land,  because  he  was  the  first  who 
"  sett  upon  printing"  in  the  colony  ;  but  a  hundred  years  and  more 
elapsed  before  the  press  was  exempt  from  censorship.f 

Fourteen  years  after  the  suppression  of  Public  Occurrences^ 
John  Campbell,  postmaster  of  Boston,  a  dull,  ignorant  Scotch 
bookseller,  began  the  publication  of  a  weekly  paper,  called  the 
Boston  JVews  Letter.^  which  was  for  many  years  the  only  newspaper 
in  America.  The  News  Letter  was  published  "  by  authority,"  and 
was  conducted  with  clumsy  and  cringing  prudence  ;  containing  little 
more  than  a  digest  of  the  European  news.     The  advertisements,  of 

*  Hunrs  "Fonrth  Estnte,"  i.,  140.    Mr.  Hunt  copied  from  the  "State  Trials." 
t Drake's  "History  of  Boston,"  p.  242. 


76  IJFK    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l722. 

which  there  were  seldom  more  than  two  or  three  in  a  number,  re- 
lated chiefly  to  the  catching  of  runaway  apprentices  and  the  sale 
of  negroes.  The  N'eics  Letter  was  not  a  source  of  profit  to  the 
postmaster ;  he  was  continually  complaining  of  the  indifterence  of 
the  public  and  the  smallness  of  his  circulation.  After  a  struggle 
of  fifteen  years,  he  was  still  obliged  to  confess  that  he  coald  not 
"vend  three  hundred  at  an  impression,  though  some  ignorantly 
concludes  he  sells  upward  of  a  thousand."  He  boasted,  however, 
on  this  occasion,  that  the  European  news,  which  was  formerly 
''  thirteen  months  in  arrear,  was  then  only  five  months  ;  so  that  we 
have  retrieved  about  eight  months  since  January  last." 

There  was  certainly  little  encouragement  to  start  another  paper 
in  Boston.  But,  from  1704,  when  the  JSfeios  Letter  began,  until 
the  Revolution,  the  business  of  publishing  newspapers  in  America 
was  carried  on  almost  exclusively  by  postmasters;  and  in  1719, 
John  Campbell,  postmaster  of  Boston,  lost  his  place.  Newspapers, 
it  should  be  mentioned,  went  free  of  postage  in  the  colonies  as  late 
as  1758,  when  one  Benjamin  Franklin,  Deputy  Postmaster-General, 
put  upon  them  a  charge  of  nine  pence  a  year  for  each  fifty  miles 
of  carriage.  Until  that  time,  the  postmasters  had  not  only  the 
privilege  of  sending  papers  through  the  mail  free,  but  the  still  more 
valuable  right  of  excluding  from  the  mail  papers  published  by  others. 
Accordingly,  we  find  that  nearly  all  the  pioneers  of  the  press,  in 
Boston,  New  York,  and  Philadelphia,  were  postmasters.  When  a 
postmaster  lost  his  office  he  generally  sold  out  his  newspaper,  and 
a  new  postmaster  soon  bought  or  established  one.  John  Camp- 
bell, however,  feeling  himself  aggrieved  by  his  removal,  did  not 
dispose  of  the  News  Letter :  which  induced  his  successor,  William 
Brocker,  to  set  up  a  paper  of  his  own,  the  Boston  Gazette,  which 
appeared  in  December,  1719.  Mr.  Brocker  expressly  says,  in  his 
prospectus,  that  he  started  the  new  paper  at  the  request  of  several 
merchants,  and  others,  who  "have  been  prevented  from  having 
their  newspaper  sent  them  by  the  post,  ever  since  Mr.  Campbell 
was  removed  from  being  postmaster." 

James  Franklin  was  employed  to  print  the  Boston  Gazette^  an  im- 
portant addition  to  his  little  business.  Before  Brocker  had  enjoyed 
the  office  of  postmaster  many  months,  news  came  from  England 
that  the  postmaster-general,  who  had  repeatedly  requested  the  re- 
moval of  the  incfficieiit  Campbell,  hud  appointed  to  his  office  Philip 


AGED  16.]  33IE    FIRST   SEXSATION    NEWSPAPER.  77 

Masgrave.  Thus,  two  persons  were  appointed  to  the  same  office ; 
one  by  the  colonial  postmaster  ;  another,  by  the  postmaster-general. 
Masgrave,  deriving  his  r.ppointment  from  the  central  authority, 
took  the  office,  and,  as  a  consequence,  bought  of  the  superseded 
Brocker  the  new  newspaper. 

Masgrave  chose  to  employ  another  printer.  It  is  probable  that 
James  Franklin  had  incurred  expense  in  preparing  to  print  the 
Gazette^  which  a  continuance  of  the  work  would  have  reimbursed. 
He  appears  to  have  resented,  as  well  as  lamented,  the  transfer  of 
the  prmting  to  another  office.  To  this  feeling  of  resentment  is  at- 
tributed his  determination  to  start  a  third  newspaper,  in  a  town 
which  had  not  shown  itself  willing  to  give  a  fair  support  to  one. 
Besides,  who  that  has  ever  been  concerned  in  the  conduct  of  a 
periodical,  can  quite  recover  from  the  hankering  to  be  again  occu- 
pied in  getting  out  '*  great  numbers,"  the  most  fascinating  of  human 
employments?  His  friends  advised  him  strongly  against  the  un- 
dertaking. But  on  Monday,  August  17,  1721,  appeared  the  first 
number  of  the  N'ew  JEngland  Courant^  owned,  printed,  and  con- 
ducted by  James  Franklin.  Tlie  paper  was  named  after  the 
London  Daily  Courant^  a  journal  renowned  in  those  years  for  its 
boldness  in  maintaining  the  liberty  of  the  press,  and  for  the  prose- 
cutions it  underwent  in  consequence. 

A  new  task  devolved  upon  Benjamin  after  the  starting  of  the 
Gourant.  Besides  assisting  to  set  it  in  type,  and  to  work  it  off 
upon  the  press,  he  carried  the  paper  around  the  city  to  the  subscri- 
bers. As  he  was  the  carrier  for  a  year  or  tw^o,  he,  probaV)ly,  ex- 
ercised his  poetical  talents  in  producing  the  Carrier's  New  Year 
Address ;  for  this  custom,  we  know%  prevailed  from  the  earliest 
period  of  the  colonial  press.  A  Carrier's  Address,  dated  1720,  writ- 
ten by  the  Philadelphia  printer,  Samuel  Keimer,  whose  acquaintance 
the  reader  will  soon  have  the  pleasure  of  making,  has  been  preserved. 
It  bears  the  following  superscription  :  "  Piece  wrote  by  Samuel 
Keimer,  for  the  boys  who  carried  out  the  weekly  newspaper  to  their 
Master's  customers  in  Philadelphia ;  to  whom  commonly,  every 
New  Year's  Day,  they  present  verses  of  this  kind."*  Thirty-eight 
lines  of  doggerel  follow  this  ample  prelude: 

"Full  fifty  times  have  roU'd  these  changes  on. 
And  all  the  year's  transactions  now  are  done ; 

*  Duyckinck's  "  Cyclopedia  of  American  Literature,"  {.,  99. 


Is  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BEIS^JAMIN    FRANKLIX.  [l722. 

Full  fifty  times  I've  trod  with  eager  haste, 
To  bring  you  weekly  news  of  all  things  past ; 
Some  grateful  thing  is  due  for  such  a  task, 
Tho'  modesty  itself  forbids  to  ask  ; 
A  silver  thought  expressed  in  ill-shaped  ore, 
Is  all  I  wish  ;  nor  would  I  ask  for  more." 

And  so  forth.  The  carriers  of  that  day  expressed  the  object  of 
their  New  Year's  call  more  plainly  than  is  the  custom  now. 

The  JVeic  England  Courant  *  was  a  most  extraordinary  sheet. 
Of  all  the  colonial  newspapers  it  was  the  most  spirited,  witty,  and 
daring.  The  Bostonians,  accustomed  to  the  monotonous  dullness 
of  the  JSfews  Letter  and  the  monotonous  respectability  of  the  Ga- 
zette, received,  some  with  delight,  more  with  horror,  all  with  amaze- 
ment, this  weekly  budget  of  impudence  and  fun.  A  knot  of  liberals 
gathered  round  James  Franklin,  physicians  most  of  them,  able, 
audacious  men,  who  kept  him  well  supplied  with  squibs,  essays, 
and  every  variety  of  sense  and  nonsense  known  in  that  age.  The 
Courant  was,  indeed,  to  borrow  the  slang  of  the  present  day,  a  "  sen- 
sation newspaper."  Such  a  tempest  did  it  stir  up  in  i^oston,  that 
the  noise  thereof  was  heard  in  the  remote  colony  of  Pennsylvania. 

Couranto — for  thus  the  paper  was  personalized  by  the  club  of 
contributors — ^first  set  upon  the  N'ews  Letter  and  the  Gazette,  alleg- 
ing that  they  were  "  very,  very  dull,"  so  dull,  as  to  render  a  third 
newspaper  more  than  excusable.  Campbell,  in  his  dull,  clumsy  way, 
like  an  elephant  gamboling,  essayed  to  ridicule  the  pretensions  of 
"  our  new  gentleman."  Couranto  replied  in  verse.  Campbell  re- 
sponded in  his  dullest  and  most  involved  manner.  The  Gazette 
joined  in  the  fray,  and  there  was  war  between  the  three  papers  as 
long  as  the  Courant  existed. 

This,  however,  was  a  matter  of  little  consequence.  Before  three 
numbers  of  the  Courant  had  appeared,  it  was  involved  in  a  contro- 
versy with  the  very  Lords  of  the  Lord  Brethren  ;  in  which  the 
Brethren  were  on  the  right  and  liberal  side,  and  the  Courant  stood 
forth  as  the  defender  of  antiquated  and  cowardly  prejudice.  When 
the  Courant  was  started,  the  small-pox,  that  scourge  of  the  olden 
time,  was  raging  fearfully  in  Boston,  as  it  had  done  many  times 

*  For  information  respecting  the  New  Enerland  Coufant,  see  the  file  in  the  Library  of  the  Mas- 
B.'ichusetts  Historical  Society;  Buckingham's  "Specimens  of  Newspaper  Literature;"  Thomas's 
"•  History  of  Prinnng;"  Drake's  "History  of  Boston." 


AGED    16.]  THE   FIRST   SENSATION  NEWSPAPER.  Id 

before.  The  present  generation  can  scarcely  conceive  the  horrors 
of  this  disease  in  the  olden  times.  When  Boston  was  a  town  of 
five  or  six  thousand  inhabitants,  seven  hundred  persons  died  of 
small-pox  in  half  a  year.  In  1690,  three  hundred  and  ninety  died 
of  it.  In  1'721,  when  the  population  was  twelve  thousand,  the 
number  of  deatlis  from  this  disease  was  eight  hundred  and  fifty ; 
and  such  virulence  had  the  mysterious  poison,  that  people  died  in 
three  or  four  days  after  being  attacked.  The  small-pox  was,  to  the 
people  of  that  age,  more  terrible  than  any  terror  can  be  to  moderns ; 
for  the  progress  of  civiUzation  is  the  gradual  deliveranca-of  man 
fromhis_Jears,  byjesseningi  his  dangers,  and  Jby^  enlightening  his 
mind. 

The  past  ages  were  a  long  reign  of  terror.  Small-pox  without 
inoculation  ;  fires  without  insurance ;  witchcraft ;  "  Sinners  in 
the  hands  of  an  angry  God  ;"  how  strange  that  any  one  could  have 
laughed  in  Boston,  a  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago.  Note  these  sen- 
tences from  a  sermon  preached  at  Boston,  in  1766,  by  Dr.  May- 
hew  :  "  We  have  known  seasons  of  drought,  death,  and  spreading 
mortal  diseases.  We  have  seen  wide  devastations  made  by  fires, 
and  amazing  tempests,  the  heavens  on  flames,  the  winds  and  waves 
warring.  We  have  known  repeated  earthquakes  threatening  us  with 
destruction.  We  have  been  under  great  apprehensions  by  reason 
of  formidable  fleets  of  an  enemy  on  our  coasts,  menacing  fire  and 
sword  to  all  our  maritime  towns.  We  have  knowm  times  when  the 
French  and  savage  armies  made  terrible  havoc  on  our  frontiers, 
carrying  all  before  them  for  a  while.  Such  times  as  these  have  we 
known  ;  at  some  of  which,  almost  every  face  gathered  paleness,  and 
the  knees  of  all  but  the  good  and  brave  waxed  feeble." 

About  the  time  that  Benjamin  Franklin  first  donned  the  apron 
of  the  printer's  boy,  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Montague  came  home 
from  Turkey  with  the  secret  of  inoculation  for  the  small-pox. 
Cotton  Mather  read  all  about  it,  theory  and  practice,  in  the  Trans- 
actions of  the  Royal  Society,  which  he  received  regularly,  and  to 
which  he  sent  contributions.  He  warmly  welcomed  the  perilous 
invention,  and  so  did  his  venerable  father,  Increase  Mather. 
Through  their  great  influence,  a  trial  of  inoculation  was  made 
in  1721,  and  with  such  success,  that  out  of  two  hundred  and  eighty- 
six  persons  inoculated  in  Massachusetts,  only  six  died.  Neverthe- 
less, a  great  clamor  arose  against  inoculation ;  as  there  does  against 


30  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1722. 

every  valuable  idea  or  scheme  when  it  is  first  promulgated.  The 
witty  correspondents  of  the  Courant^  moved  thereto  by  their  dis- 
like of  the  clergy,  led  the  attack  upon  the  new  remedy,  and  kept 
up  a  weekly  fire  of  ridicule  and  sarcasm  upon  it  and  its  clerical 
advocates. 

Unfortunately,  no  copies  exist  of  the  first  seventeen  numbers  of 
the  Couranty'  and  we  are  obliged  to  learn  their  contents  from  the 
files  of  the  News  Letter,  which  essayed  to  reply  to  its  assaults 
upon  inoculation.  We  perceive  that  the  wrath  of  Cotton  Mather 
burned  against  the  new  journal.  When  but  two  numbers  of  the 
Gourant  had  appeared,  a  communication,  supposed  to  have  been 
the  work  of  Cotton  Mather,  was  published  in  the  News  Letter^  de- 
nouncing the  Coiirant  in  unmeasured  language.  The  reverend 
vituperator  compared  the  writers  for  the  Gourant  to  the  Hell  Fire 
Club  of  London,  the  members  of  which  were  popularly  supposed 
to  assume  "the  tremendous  names  of  God  the  Father,  God  the  Son, 
God  the  Holy  Ghost,  John  the  Baptist,  and  the  twelve  Apostles," 
and  to  assemble  regularly  for  the  formal  worship  of  the  Devil,  whose 
health  was  their  common  toast,  and  to  whom  they  had  erected  an 
altar.  "Notwithstanding  God's  hand  is  against  us,"  continued 
the  irate  Mather,  "  in  his  visitation  of  the  small-pox,  and  the  threat- 
ening aspect  of  the  wet  weather,  we  find  a  notorious,  scandalous 
paper,  called  the  Gourant^  full  freighted  with  nonsense,  unmanli- 
ness,  railery,  prophaneness,  immorality,  arrogance,  calumnies,  lies, 
contradictions,  and  what  not,  all  tending  to  quarrels  and  divisions, 
and  to  debauch  and  corrupt  the  minds  and  manners  of  New  Eng- 
land." It  likewise  troubled  him,  he  added,  to  hear  it  frequently 
said  in  Boston,  that  "  the  authors  of  that  flagitious  and  wicked 
paper,"  were  certain  respectable  "  practitioners  of  physic,  several 
of  whom,  we  know  to  be  gentlemen  by  birth,  education,  probity, 
and  good  manners."  The  reverend  writer  warned  these  gentlemen 
to  desist,  "  lest  their  bands  be  made  strong,  and  a  worse  thing  be- 
fall them." 

Increase  Mather  publicly,  and  over  his  own  signature,  denounced 
the  Gourant  as  a  "  wicked  libel,"  in  that  it  had  represented  him 
as  one  of  its  supporters.  "I  do  hereby  declare,"  said  he,  "that  al- 
tho'  I  had  paid  for  two  or  three  of  them,  I  then  sent  him  word  I 
was  extremely  offended  with  it.  In  special,  because  in  one  of  his 
1^76  Gourants  he  insinuates,  that  if  the  Ministers  of  God  approve 


AGED    16.]  THE   FIRST   SENS  ATI  OX   NEWSPAPER.  81 

of  a  thing ^  it  is  a  Sign  it  is  of  the  Devil ;  which  is  a  horrid  thing 
to  be  related !  And  he  doth  frequently  abuse  the  Ministers  of 
Religion,  and  many  other  worthy  Persons  in  a  manner,  which  is 
intolerable.  For  these  and  such  like  Reasons  I  signified  to  the 
Printer,  that  I  would  have  no  more  of  their  Wicked  Courants.  I 
that  have  known  what  New  England  was  from  the  Beginnmg,  can- 
not but  be  troubled  to  see  the  Degeneracy  of  this  Place.  I  can 
well  remember  when  the  Civil  Government  would  have  taken  an 
effectual  Course  to  suppress  such  a  Cursed  Libel!  which  if  it  be 
not  done  I  am  afraid  that  some  Awful  Judgment  will  come  up'on 
this  Land,  and  the  Wrath  of  God  loill  arise,  and  there  will  he  no 
Remedy.  I  cannot  but  pity  poor  Franklin,  who  tho'  but  a  Young 
Man  it  may  be  Speedily  he  must  appear  before  the  Judgment  Seat 
of  God,  and  what  answer  will  he  give  for  printing  things  so  vile 
and  abominable  ?" 

Ere  long  a  pamphlet  appeared,  the  chief  object  of  which  was  to 
attack  the  Courant.  In  the  hight  of  the  controversy,  a  diabolical 
attempt  was  made  to  silence  forever  the  chief  of  the  inoculators. 
He  related  the  particulars  himself  in  tie  Wews  Letter:  "At  the 
House  of  the  Reverend  Dr.  Cotton  Mather,  there  lodged  his  Kins- 
man, a  worthy  Minister  under  the  Small-Pox,  received  and  man- 
aged in  the  w^ay  oi  Inoculation.  Towards  Three  of  the  Clock  in 
the  Night,  as  it  grew  towards  the  Morning  of  Tuesday  the  Four- 
teenth of  the  Instant  November,  some  unknown  Hands  threw  a 
Fired  Granado  into  the  Chamber  of  the  Sick  Gentleman:  The 
weight  whereof  alone,  if  it  had  fallen  upon  the  Head  of  the  Patient 
(which  it  seemed  aimed  at)  would  have  been  enough  to  have 
done  part  of  the  Business  designed.  But  the  Granado  was  charged 
with  Combustible  matter,  and  in  such  a  manner,  that  upon  its  going 
off,  it  must  probably  have  killed  the  Persons  in  the  Room,  and 
would  have  certainly  fired  the  Chamber  &  soon  have  laid  the 
House  in  Ashes,  which  has  appear'd  Incontestible  to  them  that 
have  since  Examined  it.  But  the  Merciful  Providence  of  GOD  so 
ordered  it,  that  the  Granado  passing  through  the  Window,  had  by 
the  Iron  in  the  Middle  of  the  Casement,  such  a  Turn  given  to  it, 
that  in  falling  on  the  Floor,  the  Fired  Wild-Fire  in  the  Fuse  was 
silently  shaken  out  some  Distance  from  the  Shell,  and  burned  out 
upon  the  Floor,  without  firing  the  Granado." 

It  appeared  from  a  paper  attached  to  the  grenade,  that  this  at- 
4* 


82  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAJ^IIN   FEANKLIN.  fl722. 

tempt  to  destroy  the  worthy  and  credulous  Mather,  was  the  work 
of  a  revengeful  private  enemy.  "I  was  one  of  your  meeting,"  ran 
the  paper,  "but  the  cursed  lye  you  told  of,  you  know  who,  made 
me  leave  you,  you  dog.  And  damn  you,  I  will  inoculate  you  with 
this,  with  a  pox  to  you." 

1^0  the  attacks  of  the  clergy,  the  pamphleteer,  and  the  JVews 
Letter,  James  Franklin  replied  with  moderation  and  ingenuity. 
While  speaking  of  Increase  Mather  as  became  a  young  man,  he  yet 
proved  to  him  that  his  charges  against  the  Gourant  were  founded 
on  quotations  garbled  or  incomplete.  The  sentence  referred  to  by 
Mather  as  containing  something  "  horrid  to  be  related,"  was  inno- 
cent enough  when  quoted  entire :  "  Most  of  the  ministers  are  for 
it,  and  that  induces  me  to  think  it  is  from  the  Devil ;  for  he  often 
makes  use  of  good  men  as  instruments  to  obtrude  his  delusions  on 
the  world."  The  editor  also  contrived  to  let  the  public  know,  that 
his  reverend  opponent,  though  no  longer  a  subscriber  to  the  Cour- 
ant^  yet  sent  his  grandson  every  week  to  buy  it ;  and,  paying  in 
this  way  a  higher  price,  he  was  more  a  supporter  of  the  paper  than 
ever.  "  I  would  likewise,"  said  the  printer,  "  advise  the  enemies  of 
the  Courant  not  to  publish  any  thing  more  against  it,  unless  they 
are  willing  to  have  it  continued.  What  they  have  already  done  has 
been  resented  by  the  Town  so  much  to  my  advantage,  that  above 
forty  persons  have  subscribed  for  the  Courant  since  the  first  of 
January,  many  of  whom  were  before  subscribers  to  the  other 
papers :  And,  by  one  Advertisement  more,  the  Anti-Couranters 
will  be  in  great  danger  of  adding  forty  more  to  my  list  before  the 
first  of  March." 

Even  in  the  streets,  the  young  printer  was  not  safe  from  the  re- 
monstrances of  the  indignant  brethren.  While  the  inoculation 
controversy  was  in  progress,  a  certain  gentleman  stopped  him  in 
the  streets  and  addressed  him  in  the  following  words :  "  Young 
man,  you  entertain,  and  no  doubt  you  think  you  edify,  the  public 
with  a  weekly  paper  called  the  Gourant.  The  plain  design  of  your 
paper  is  to  banter  and  abuse  the  ministers  of  God,  and,  if  you  can, 
to  defeat  all  the  good  effects  of  their  ministry  on  the  minds  of  the 
people.  You  may  do  well  to  remember  that  it  is  a  passage,  in  the 
blessing  on  the  tribe  of  Levi,  Smite  through  the  loins  of  them  that 
rise  agahist  him,  and  of  them  that  hate  him.  I  would  have  you  to 
know  that  the  f iithful  ministers  of  Christ  in  this  place,  are  as  hon- 


I 


AGED    16.]  THE    FIRST    SENSATION    NEWSPAPER.  83 

est  and  useful  men  as  the  ancient  Levites  were ;  and,  if  you  resolve 
to  go  on  in  serving  their  great  adversary  as  you  do,  you  must  ex- 
pect the  consequences." 

Having  said  these  words,  he  turned  upon  his  heel  and  walked 
away.  James  Franklin  retorted  in  the  Courant.  The  assailant 
replied  in  the  News  Letter^  justifying  his  conduct.  "The  reason," 
said  he,  "  of  this  faithful  admonition  was,  because  the  practice  of 
supporting  and  publishing  every  week  a  libel,  on  purpose  to  lessen 
and  blacken  and  burlesque  the  virtuous  and  principal  ministers  of 
religion  in  a  country,  and  render  all  the  services  of  their  ministry 
despicable,  and  even  detestable  to  the  people,  is  a  wickedness  thai, 
was  never  known  before^  in  any  country,  Christian,  Turkish,  or 
Pagan,  on  the  face  of  the  earth,  and  some  good  men  are  afraid  it 
may  provoke  Heaven  to  deal  with  this  place,  in  some  regards,  as 
never  any  place  has  yet  been  dealt  withal,  and  a  charity  to  this 
young  man  and  his  accomphces  might  render  such  a  warning 
proper  for  them." 

And  so  the  wordy  warfare  went  on,  week  after  week,  for  several 
months ;  subsiding,  as  wars  generally  do,  when  both  parties  were 
exhausted. 

The  apprentice,  meanwhile,  set  the  types,  worked  at  the  press,* 
and  carried  about  the  paper,  never  presuming  to  take  part  in  the 
controversy,  keenly  as  it  must  have  interested  him.  There  w^as  not 
a  cordial  feeling  between  Benjamin  and  his  brother  James.  The 
lad  saw  with  resentment  that  he  was  treated  in  all  respects  as  an 
apprentice,  nothing  whatever  being  conceded  to  the  relationship 
between  himself  and  his  master.  Often  high  words  passed  be- 
tween the  brothers ;  often  the  master  inflicted  blows  upon  the  ap- 
prentice ;  often  their  father  was  called  upon  to  settle  their  differ- 
ences, and,  generally,  he  decided  that  Benjamin  w^as  in  the  right. 
It  was  owing,  doubtless,  to  this  ill  feeling,  that  James  Franklin 

*  "The  old  press  at  which  Franklin  worked  in  Boston,  on  the  ITew  England  Courant  in  1720, 
has  been  preserved  for  more  than  a  century  in  the  office  of  the  Newport  Mercury.  The  Mercury 
was  established  by  James  Franklin,  brother  of  the  philosopher,  who  then  owned  and  used  the 
press.  It  has  recently  been  sold,  and  is  now  the  property  of  John  B.  Murray,  Esq.,  of  the  firm  of 
John  B.  Murray  &  Co.,  bankers,  Xew  York  City.  Mr.  Murray  is  already  the  owner  of  one  press 
at  which  Benjamin  Franklin  worked  in  Watts's  printing  house,  near  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  London, 
in  1725-0.  This  old  press  Mr.  Murray  procured  in  London  in  1841,  and  deposited  for  safe  keeping 
in  the  United  States  Patent  Office  at  Washington  in  1842,  where  it  still  remains.  The  only  two 
presses  identified  with  the  name  of  Benjamin  Franklin  are  now  under  one  ownership,  and  will 
be  kept  together  during  the  lifetime  of  the  owner." — BostonTranscript,  Sept.  15,  1859. 


84  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [lV22. 

knew  little  of  the  lad's  studies  and  aspirations ;  least  of  all,  sus- 
pected that  his  apprentice,  before  he  was  sixteen,  had  so  completely- 
caught  the  Addisonian  manner  as  to  be  able  to  produce  passages, 
if  not  whole  essays,  scarcely  inferior  to  Addison,  either  in  spirit  or 
in  style. 

Moved,  at  length,  to  try  his  hand  at  an  article  for  the  Courant^ 
the  apprentice  executed  his  purpose  in  secret,  disguised  his  hand, 
and  thrust  the  piece  under  the  door  of  the  printing-house  at  night — 
just  as  Charles  Dickens  dropped,  one  evening  at  twilight,  with  fear 
and  trembling,  that  first  magazine  article  of  his,  "  into  a  dark  letter- 
box, in  a  dark  office,  up  a  dark  court  in  Fleet  Street." 

The  next  morning,  when  the  contributors  assembled  for  their 
daily  chat  and  consultation,  the  apprentice  as  he  stood  at  the  case 
heard  his  piece  read  and  commented  on.  He  tells  us  that  he  had 
the  exquisite  pleasure  of  finding  that  it  was  approved,  and  that,  in 
their  guesses  at  the  author,  they  mentioned  none  but  men  noted  for 
learning  and  talents.  Life  knows  no  moment  of  deeper  joy  than 
the  one  which  reveals  to  the  young  genius  that  he  actually  has 
something  of  the  power  to  move  and  charm  which  he  has  so  long 
admired  and  coveted.  When  Dickens  saw  his  piece  "in  all  the 
glory  of  print,"  he  had  to  turn  into  Westminster  Hall,  he  says,  to 
hide  his  tears  of  joy  and  pride.  Franklin's  experience  must  have 
been  similar  for  him  to  have  spoken  of  it,  fifty-five  years  after,  as 
an  exquisite  pleasure. 

The  piece  was  printed  in  the  Courant.  The  incomplete  file  of  m 
that  paper,  preserved  in  the  Library  of  the  Historical  Society  of  * 
Massachusetts,  has  often  been  scanned,  with  a  view  to  find  or  guess 
at  this  first  printed  production  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  Conjecluie 
points,  with  much  confidence,  to  a  series  of  articles  signed  "  Silence 
Dogood,"  which  began  to  appear  when  the  interest  in  the  inocula- 
tion controversy  was  beginning  to  flag.  These  articles  are  of  such 
unequal  merit  as  to  justify  the  conclusion  that  they  were  the 
production  of  different  authors.  It  is  beheved,  however,  that 
the  signature,  the  plan  of  the  series,  and  most  of  the  articles,  were 
the  work  of  the  apprentice,  and  that  the  first  of  the  series  was  the 
article  thrust  by  him,  at  night,  under  the  door  of  the  printing- 
house.  The  words,  "  Silence  Dogood^"  describe  the  lad's  ideal  of 
character,  and  they  describe  the  character  he  himself  attained  ;  for 
be  was  taciturn  in  general  company,  and  he  vahied,  above  all  other 


AGED  16.]  THE    FIKST   SENSATION   NEWSPAPER.  85 

fame,  he  tells  us,  that  of  a  doer  of  good.  There  is  another  reason 
for  attributing  some  of  these  articles  to  him,  beside  the  internal 
evidence.  A  boy  of  talent,  who  has  been  prevented  by  poverty 
from  going  to  college,  is  apt  to  criticise  colleges  and  graduates  of 
colleges,  in  the  spirit  of  the  fox  that  pronounced  the  grapes  sour 
which  he  could  not  reach.  No  sooner  has  "  Silence  Dogood"  told 
the  story  of  her  childhood,  marriage,  and  widowhood,  and  thus  in- 
troduced herself  to  the  public,  than  she  falls  to  ridiculing  Harvard 
College.  Her  fourth  number  is  a  "  Dream,"  in  the  manner  of  the 
"Spectator,"  in  which  precisely  the  view  of  a  college  is  taken, 
which  our  disappointed  printer's  boy  was  likely  to  take.  I  seem 
to  hear  the  young  carrier  of  genius  in  every  sentence  of  this  amus- 
ing performance.  "  I  fancied,"  the  Dream  began,  "  I  was  traveling 
over  pleasant  and  delightful  fields  and  meadows,  and  through  many 
small  country  towns  and  villages  ;  and,  as  I  passed  along,  all  places 
resounded  with  the  fame  of  the  Temple  of  Learning:  Every  peas- 
ant, Avho  had  wherewithal,  was  proposing  to  send  one  of  his  chil- 
dren, at  least,  to  this  famous  place  ;  and,  in  this  case,  most  of  them 
consulted  their  own  purses  instead  of  their  children's  capacities. 
So  that  I  observed  a  great  many,  yea,  the  most  part  of  those  who 
were  traveling  thither,  were  little  better  than  blockheads  and 
dunces.     Alas  !  alas !" 

The  dreamer  visits  the  temple  of  learning,  gives  a  satirical  de- 
scription of  its  inmates  and  customs  ;  and  relates  the  career  of  those 
who  leave  it,  i.  e.,  the  graduates  of  Harvard.  "  Some,  I  perceived, 
took  to  merchandising,  others  to  traveling,  some  to  one  thing,  some 
to  another,  and  some  to  nothing;  and  many  of  these,  henceforth, 
for  want  of  patrimony,  lived  as  poor  as  church  mice,  being  unable 
to  dig,  and  ashamed  to  beg,  and  to  live  by  their  wits  it  was  impos- 
sible. But  the  most  part  of  the  crowd  went  along  a  large  beaten 
path,  which  led  to  a  temple  at  the  further  end  of  the  plain,  called 
The  Temple  of  Theology.  The  business  of  those,  who  were  em- 
ployed in  this  temple,  being  laborious  and  painful,  I  wondered  ex- 
ceedingly to  see  so  many  go  toward  it ;  but  while  I  was  pondering 
this  matter  in  my  mind,  I  spied  Pecuhia  behind  a  curtain,  beck- 
oning to  them  with  her  hand,  which  sight  immediately  satisfied  me 
for  whose  sake  it  was,  that  a  great  part  of  them  (I  will  not  say  all), 
traveled  that  road.  In  this  temple  I  saw  nothing  worth  mention- 
ing, except  the  ambitious  and  fraudulent  contrivances  of  Plagius, 


86  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   EKNJAMIX    FRANKLIN.  [1722. 

vrho  (notwithstanding  he  had  been  severely  reprehended  for  such 
practices  before)  was  diligently  transcribing  some  eloquent  para- 
graphs out  of  Tillotson's  works,  to  embellish  his  own." 

This  passage  illustrates  the  spirit  of  the  Courant^  as  well  as  the 
style  and  opinions  of  the  author.  Mrs.  Silence  Dogood  con- 
tinued to  send  in  her  humorous  essays  for  more  than  a  year.  She 
was  extremely  fond  of  ridiculing  the  grave-3''ard  doggerel  of  the 
time,  and  gave  many  a  hit  at  the  character  and  manners  of  the  Lord 
Brethren.  Benjamin  tells  us,  in  his  autobiography,  that  encouraged 
by  the  success  of  his  first  piece,  he  continued  to  thrust  contribu- 
tions under  the  office  door  until  his  stock  of  ideas  was  exhausted. 
He  then  revealed  himself  as  the  unknown  author,  and  was  thence- 
forth held  in  more  respect  by  his  brother  and  the  corps  of  writers. 

There  is  yet  another  reason  for  attributing  some  of  the  essays  of 
Mrs.  Dogood  to  the  apprentice.  Some  of  her  jokes  we  find  revived 
and  elaborated  in  Franklin's  Philadelphia  newspaper  many  years 
after.     The  following  remarks  of  Mrs.  Dogood  are  an  example  : 

"  And  as  the  effects  of  liquor  are  various,  so  are  the  characters 
given  to  its  devourers.  It  argues  some  shame  in  the  drunkards 
themselves,  in  that  they  have  invented  numberless  words  and 
phrjMes  to  cover  their  folly,  whose  proper  significations  are  harm- 
less, or  have  no  signification  at  all.  They  are  seldom  known  to  be 
drunk,  though  they  are  very  often  Boozey,  Cozey,  Tipsy,  Fox^d, 
Merry,  Mellow,  Fuddled,  Groatahle,  Confoundedly  cut.  See  two 
moons.  Are  ainong  the  Philestines,  In  a  very  good  humor,  See  the 
sun,  or  IVie  sun  has  shone  upon  them  ;  they  Clip  the  king's  En- 
glish,  are  Almost  froze.  Feverish,  In  their  Attitudes,  Pretty  well 
entered,  etc.  In  short,  every  day  produces  some  new  word  or 
phrase,  which  might  be  added  to  the  vocabulary  of  the  tipplers  ;  but 
I  have  chose  to  mention  these  few,  because  if,  at  any  time,  a  man  of 
sobriety  and  temperance  happens  to  cut  him.self  confoundedly ,  or  is 
almost  froze,  or  feverish,  or  accidentally  sees  the  su?i,  etc.,  he  may 
escape  the  imputation  of  being  drunk,  when  his  misfortune  comes 
to  be  related." 

The  leading  4deas  of  this  passage  are  repeated  in  tlie  Peyinsyl- 
vanict  Gazette,  and  the  catalogue  of  words  meaning  drunk  is 
greatly  extended,  and  arranged  in  columns,  in  alphabetical  order, 
after  the  manner  of  Rabelais. 

For  nearly  a  year,  the  saucy  Courant  continued  to  amuse  the 


AGED    16.]  THE    FIRST   SENSATION    NEWSPAPER.  87 

sinners  and  exasperate  the  saints  of  Boston,  without  molestation. 
This  single  fact  is  sufficient  to  show  that  the  ruling  powers  of  Mas- 
sachusetts had  grown  far  more  tolerant  than  those  of  the  old  coun- 
try. The  publication  of  a  newspaper  in  London  half  as  offensive  . 
to  the  government  and  bishops  of  England,  as  the  Gourant  was  to 
the  magistrates  and  clergy  of  New  England,  would  certainly  have 
cost  the  printer  his  ears,  and  some  of  the  writers  their  lives,  at  any 
time  from  1700  to  1750.  It  was  as  late  as  1812,  that  Leigh  Hunt 
and  his  brother  were  sentenced  to  pay  a  fine  of  five  hundred 
pounds,  and  to  suffer  two  years'  imprisonment,  for  printing  a  little 
harmless  nonsense  about  the  Prince  Regent.  Yet,  for  eleven 
months,  the  governing  power  of  Boston,  as  early  in  the  history  of 
toleration  as  1722,  permitted  the  Courant  to  make  merry  with  their 
measures  and  their  manners,  their  dogmas  and  their  dignity. 

But  their  patience  was  exhausted  at  length,  and  they  proceeded 
against  the  offensive  journal,  on  a  pretext  of  the  most  frivolous 
character.  The  Courant^  for  June  11,  1722,  contained  a  fictitious 
letter  from  Newport,  which  stated  that  a  pirate  vessel  had  been 
seen  off  Block  Island,  and  that  the  authorities  of  the  colony  were 
fitting  out  two  vessels  to  go  in  pursuit  of  her.  The  article  con- 
cluded with  these  words  :  "  We  are  advised  from  Boston,  tha^he 
government  of  the  Massachusetts  are  fitting  out  a  ship,  (the  Fly- 
ing Horse,)  to  go~  after  the  pirates,  to  be  commanded  by  Captain 
Peter  Papillon,  and  'tis  thought  he  will  sail  some  time  this  month, 
wind  and  weather  permitting."  This  reflection  upon  the  tardiness 
of  the  government  was  seized  upon  as  the  pretext  for  mo^t  arbitrary 
proceedings. 

The  Council  summoned  James  Franklin  before  them.  After 
being  questioned,  he  owned  that  he  was  the  publisher  of  the  paper, 
but  refused  to  reveal  the  name  of  the  author  of  the  offensive  letter. 
He  appears  to  have  borne  himself  haughtily  in  the  presence  of  the 
Council.  Benjamin  was  examined,  and  he,  too,  refused  to  name 
the  author  ;  a  contumacy  which  was  excused  in  him  on  the  ground 
that  an  apprentice  was  bound  not  to  betray  his  master's  secrets. 
The  Council  decided  that  the  paragraph  was  "  a  higll^^ffront  to  the 
government,"  and  ordered  the  sheriff  to  commit  J«mies  Franklin 
to  the  Boston  jail. 

A  week's  confinement  in  the  cell  of  a  stinking  prison  had  such 
an  effect  upon  the  spirits  of  the  unlucky  printer,  that  he  sent  to  the 


88  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1722. 

Council  a  petition,  couched  in  the  humblest  terms.  He  said  that 
''  he  was  truly  sensible  and  heartily  sorry  for  the  offence  he  had 
given  to  this  court  in  the  late  Gourant,  relating  to  the  fitting  out  of  a 
ship  by  the  government,  and  truly  acknowledges  his  inadvertency 
and  folly  therein  in  affronting  the  government,  as  also  his  indiscre- 
tion and  indecency  when  before  the  court ;  for  all  which  he  intreats 
the  court's  forgiveness,  and  praying  a  discharge  from  the  stone  prison, 
where  he  is  confined  by  order  of  the  court,  and  that  he  may  have 
the  liberty  of  the  yard,  he  being  much  indisposed,  and  suffering  in 
his  health  by  the  said  confinement." 

The  petition  was  granted.  But  he  had  been  confined  a  whole 
month  before  he  was  released. 

While  his  brotlier  was  in  prison,  Benjamin  managed  the  printing 
office  and  conducted  the  Courant.  So  far  was  he  and  the  knot 
of  writers  from  being  intimidated  by  the  prosecution,  that,  from 
this  time  forward,  the  Courant  redoubled  both  the  number  and  the 
severity  of  its  attacks  upon  the  administration.  Even  while  James 
Franklin  lay  in  prison,  the  proceedings  of  the  Council  were  assailed 
by  argument,  eloquence,  and  satire,  in  prose  and  verse,  in  squib 
and  essay.  One  number,  issued  just  after  James  Franklin's  release, 
w^  nearly  filled  with  passages  fi'om  Magna  Charta,  and  com- 
ments upon  the  same,  showing  the  unconstitutionality  of  the  treat- 
ment to  which  he  had  been  subjected.  It  is  evident  that  a  consid- 
erable number  of  the  people  of  Boston  most  heartily  sympathized 
with  the  Courant  in  its  gallant  contest  for  the  liberty  of  the  press, 
and  that  the  issue  of  the  number  was,  to  these  and  to  others,  the 
most  interesting  event  of  the  week. 

The  authoiities  bore  these  assaults  for  six  months  after  the 
expiration  of  the  printer's  term  of  incarceration.  But  the  num- 
ber of  the  Courant  for  January  14,  1723,  was  so  variously  and 
stingingly  offensive  to  them,  that  they  could  endure  it  no  longer. 
Besides  many  little  hits  at  the  governor,  and  other  dignitaries,  it 
contained  a  long  and  telling  article  on  the  vices  and  follies  of 
church  members.  A  few  sentences  from  this  piece  will  suffice  to 
show  its  quality. 

It  was  preceded  by  some  lines  from  Hudibras : 

"  — ^In  the  wicked  there's  no  vice, 
Of  which  the  saints  have  not  a  spice  ; 


AGED    16,]  THE  FIRST   SENSATION  NEWSPAPER.  89 

And  yet  that  thing  that's  pious  in 

The  one,  in  t'other  is  a  sin. 

Is't  not  ridiculous  and  nonsense, 

A  saint  should  be  a  slave  to  conscience  ?" 

The  writer  then  proceeded  thus  : 

"  It  is  an  observation  no  less  true  than  sorrowful,  which  some 
have  made,  that  there  are  many  persons  who  seem  to  be  more  than 
ordinary  religious^  but  yet  are  on  several  accounts  worse,  by  far, 
than  those  who  pretend  to  no  religion  at  all.  *         *         * 

"  If  we  observe  them  on  the  Sabbath,  they  are  wonderful  strict 
and  zealous  in  the  sanctification  of  that ;  and  it  may  be,  are  exact 
observers  of  the  evening  before  and  after  it ;  or,  trace  them  to  the 
solemn  assemblies,  and  who  is  there  so  devout  and  attentive  as 
they  ?  Nay,  sometimes  they  discover  such  distorted  faces  and  awk- 
ward gestures,  as  rendered  them  ridiculous.  But  yet,  these  very 
men  are  often  found  to  be  the  greatest  cheats  imaginable  ;  they  will 
di'xssemUe  and  lie^  snuffle  and  whiffle;  and,  if  it  be  possible,  they 
will  overreach  and  defraud  all  w^ho  deal  with  them.  *         *         * 

"  Thus,  sometimes  when  they  have  made  a  firm  bargain  for  some 
commodity  or  other,  and  the  money  to  be  paid  on  receiving  it, 
if  the  buyer  delay  his  coming  for  it  for  a  day  or  two,  and  they  have 
y  a  prospect  of  getting  more,  they  will  advance  ten  or  twenty  shil- 
lings on  the  price,  and  exact  it  of  him.  Or  when  accounts  (perhaps 
of  laborers)  are  carried  into  them,  they  will  cut  off  a  considerable 
part,  which  is  as  justly  due  as  the  rest.  Or,  if  they  have  made  a 
bargain  with  any,  which  proves  very  hard,  and  he  apply  himself  to 
them  for  abatement  and  relief,  none  can  be  obtained :  The  law 
cannot  help  him,  and  if  he  put  it  to  their  consceince,  why  they 
have  none,  or  one  that  is  seared  with  hot  iron.  Dovbt  tell  me  (they 
say),  a  bargain  is  a  bargain;  You  should  have  looked  to  that  be- 
fore ;  I  can't  help  it  now.         ****** 

"  For  my  own  part,  when  I  lind  a  man  full  of  religious  cant  and 
peilavar,  I  presently  suspect  him  to  be  a  knave.  Religion  is,  in- 
deed, the  principal  thing;  but  too  much  of  it  is  worse  than  none 
at  all.  The  world  abounds  with  knaves  and  villains ;  but  of  all 
knaves,  the  religious  knave  is  the  worst;  and  villanies  acted 
under  the  cloak  of  religion  are  the  most  execrable.  Moral  honesty, 
though  it  will  not  of  itself,  carry  a  man  to  heaven,  yet  I  am  sure 


90  LIFE    AXD   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [lY22. 

there  is  no  going  tliither  icithout  it.  And  however  such  men,  of 
whom  1  have  been  speaking,  may  palliate  their  wickedness,  they 
will  find  that  publicans  and  ha.lts  will  enter  the  kingdom  of  heaveti 
before  themselves.^'' 

And  a  great  deal  more  to  s'.m  lar  effect.  Indeed,  the  whole  of 
this  number  of  the  Gourant^  exc  pt  a  very  few  short  paragraphs,  was 
offensive,  and  meant  to  be  offensive,  to  the  clergy,  or  the  magis- 
trates, or  both. 

The  very  day  on  which  this  defiantly  exasperating  number  ap- 
peared, the  Council  ordered  that,  whereas,  the  Courant  of  that 
date  contained  "  many  passages  in  which  the  Holy  Scriptures  were 
perverted,  and  the  civil  government,  ministers,  and  people  of  this 
province  highly  reflected  on,  a  committee  of  three  persons  be  ap- 
pointed to  consider  and  report  what  is  proper  for  this  court  to  do 
thereon." 

In  two  days,  the  Committee  had  considered  the  matter  and  were 
ready  to  report.  They  "  were  humbly  of  opinion  that  the  tendency 
of  the  said  paper  is  to  mock  religion,  and  bring  it  into  contempt, 
that  the  Holy  Scriptures  are  therein  profanely  abused,  that  the  re- 
vered and  faithful  ministers  of  the  Gospel  are  injuriously  reflected 
on.  His  Majesty's  Government  affronted,  and  the  peace  and  good 
order  of  His  Majesty's  subjects  of  this  Province  disturbed,  by  the 
said  Courant ;  and  for  precaution  of  the  like  offence  for  the  future, 
the  Committee  humbly  propose.,  That  James  Franklin,  the  printer 
and  publisher  thereof,  be  strictly  forbidden  by  this  Court  to  print 
or'  publish  the  New  England  Courant^  or  any  other  pamphlet  or 
paper  of  the  like  nature,  except  it  be  first  supervised  by  the  Secre- 
tary of  this  Province." 

This  report  was  approved  and  an  order  was  issued  in  accordance 
therewith. 

What  effect  this  proceeding  had  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  of 
Boston,  we  can  only  infer,  as  there  is  no  record  on  the  subject. 
The  Philadelphia  Mercury  commented  upon  it  with  humor  and 
severity ;  descanting  on  the  injustice  of  punishing  Mr.  Franklin  with- 
out giving  him  a  hearing.  "  An  indifferent  person,"  said  the  Mer- 
cury.,  "  would  judge,  from  this  conduct,  that  the  Assembly  of 
Massachusetts  were  oppressors  and  bigots,  '  who  made  religion 
only  an  engine  of  destruction  to  the  people.'  "  The  Mercury  pitied 
the  people  who  were  compelled  to  submit  to  the  tyranny  of  priest- 


AGED    16.]  THE   FIRST   SEiq"SATION   NEWSPAPER. 


91 


craft  and  hypocrisy,  and  concluded  its  comments  with  a  witty  P. 
S. :  "By  private  letters  from  Boston,  we  are  informed,  that  the 
bakers  were  mider  great  apprehensions  of  being  forbid  baking  any 
more  bread,  unless  they  will  submit  it  to  the  Secretary  as  supervi- 
sor-general and  weigher  of  the  dough,  before  it  is  baked  into  bread 
and  oiFered  to  sale." 

All  this  must  have  been  consoling  when  it  reached  Boston,  about 
two  months  after  the  event.  The  persecuted  printer,  liowever,  was 
obhged  to  act  immediately,  or  lose  his  newspaper.  The  contribu- 
tors assembled  at  the  office  as  soon  as  the  decision  of  the  Council 
was  known,  to  devise  a  scheme  for  safely  evading  the  arbitrary 
mandate.  It  was  resolved,  after  other  plans  had  been  considered 
and  rejected,  that  the  paper  should  be  issued  thenceforth  in  the 
name  of  Benjamin  Franklin ;  to  obviate  the  charge  of  continuing 
to  print  the  Courant  by  his  apprentice,  James  Franklin  canceled 
the  youth's  indentures,  and  returned  them  to  him,  to  be  shown  if 
there  should  be  occasion.  At  the  same  time,  to  secure  the  lad's 
valuable  services  for  the  four  remaining  years  of  his  apprenticeship, 
he  caused  him  to  sign  new  indentures,  which  were  to  be  kept  secret. 
The  next  number  of  the  Courant  announced  that  "  the  late  pub- 
lisher of  this  paper,  finding  so  many  inconveniencies  would  arise 
by  his  carrying  the  manuscripts  and  public  news  to  be  supervised 
by  the  Secretray  as  to  render  his  carrying  it  on  unprofitable,  has 
entirely  dropt  the  undertaking." 

Then  followed  a  long  and  humorous  prospectus,  written  as 
though  the  New  England  Courant  were  then  presenting  itself  to 
the  public  for  the  first  time.  There  are  passages  in  this  article  so 
Franklinenn  that  we  cannot  hesitate  to  attribute  the  greater  part 
of  it  to  the  person  in  whose  name  it  was  published.  It  began 
thus:  "Long  has  the  press  groaned  in  bringing  forth  an  hateful 
brood  of  pamphlets,  malicious  scribbles,  and  billingsgate-ribaldry. 
The  rancor  and  bitterness  it  has  unhappily  infused  into  men's 
minds,  and  to  what  a  degree  it  has  soured  and  leavened  the  tempers 
of  persons  formerly  esteemed  some  of  the  most  sweet  and  afiiible,  is 
too  well  known  here  to  need  any  further  proof  or  representation  of 
the  matter.  No  generous  and  impartial  person,  then,  can  blame  the 
present  undertaking,  which  is  designed  purely  for  the  diversion  and 
merriment  of  the  reader.  Pieces  of  pleasancy  and  mirth  have  a 
secret  charm  in  them  to  allay  the  heats  and  tumors  of  our  spirits, 


92  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BEXJAMIN"   FRA-NXLTN-.  [1723. 

and  to  make  a  man  forget  his  restless  resentments.  Thej  have  a 
strange  power  in  them  to  hush  disorders  of  the  soul,  and  reduce  us 
to  a  serene  and  placid  state  of  mind. 

"  The  main  design  of  this  weekly  paper  will  be  to  entertain  the 
town  with  the  most  comical  and  diverting  incidents  of  human  life 
which,  in  so  large  a  place  as  Boston,  will  not  fail  of  a  universal  ex- 
emplification :  Nor  shall  we  be  wanting  to  fill  up  these  papers  with 
a  grateful  interspersion  of  more  serious  morals,  which  maybe  drawn 
from  the  most  ludicrous  and  odd  parts  of  life." 

The  reader  familiar  with  the  writings  of  our  laughing  philosopher, 
wall  say  of  this  passage  :  'tis  Franklin's  voice,  if  Franklin  ever  spoke. 
The  sentences  beginning  "  Pieces  of  Pleasantry,"  are  Franklin's.^ 
essence.  There  was  nothing  he  more  believed  in  than  laughter ; 
his  power  of  provoking  Avhich  served  him  for  eloquence,  as  it  did  I 
his  diplomacy,  and  rendered  him  the  most  delightful  of  companions^ 
and  colleagues. 

It  does  not  appear  that  Couranto  mended  his  manners  under  the 
new  regime.  The  paper  contimied  to  be  humorous  and  satirical,  and 
refrained  not  from  bantering  the  clergy  and  the  brethren.  "Oldi 
Janus"  was  now  the  presiding  genius  of  the  Courant.  We  findi 
communications  addressed  to  this  mysterious  personage,  as  "ven- 
erable old  Janus,"  "good  Master  Janus,"  "the  ancient  and  ven- 
erable Doctor  Janus,"  "Master  Janus,"  "Doctor  Janus,"  "Father; 
Janus,"  "  honest  Doctor  Janus,"  and  "  the  most  excellent  Janus." 
The  number  issued  immediately  after  the  action  of  the  Council 
may  have  been  a  little  more  guarded  in  manner  than  before,  buti 
the"  spirit  and  object  of  the  paper  were  unchanged.  One  of  the 
first  numbers  issued  in  the  name  of  the  ex-apprentice  contained  a 
communication  giving  satirical  advice  to  the  editor,  how  he  should 
conduct  his  paper  so  as  to  avoid  offense.  But  this  very  piece  was, 
doubtless,  as  offensive  to  the  clergy  as  it  was  amusing  to  their  op- 
ponents. 

"Take  great  care,"  observed  the  writer,  "that  you  do  not  cast! 
injurious  Reflections  on  the  Reverend  and  Faithful  3Iinisters  of 
the  Gospel^  or  any  of  them.  We  think  New-England  may  boast' 
of  almost  an  unparalleled  Happiness  in  its  Mia^isters  ;  take  them  in 
general,  there  is  scarce  a  more  Candid^  Learned^  Pious  and  Lor 
horious  Set  of  Men  under  Heaven.  But  tho'  they  are  the  Best  of 
3Ien^  yet  they  are  but  Men  at  the  best,  and  by  consequence  subjecti 


AGED  17.]  THE   FIRST    SENSATION    NEV/SPAPER.  93 

to  like  Finalities  and  Passions  as  other  Men ;  And  when  we  hear 
of  the  Imprudencies  of  any  of  them,  we  should  cover  them  with 
the  mantle  of  Love  and  Charity,  and  not  profanely  expose  and  Ag- 
gravate them.  Charity  covers  a  multittcde  of  Sins.  Besides, 
when  you  abuse  the  Clergy  you  do  not  consult  your  own  Interest, 
for  you  may  be  sure  they  will  improve  their  influence  to  the  utter- 
most to  suppress  your  paper." 

ISTo  doubt,  the  sinners  of  Boston  chuckled  over  this  covert,  but 
very  transparent,  satire. 

The  following  piece  we  may  almost  certainly  conclude  to  be  the 
work  of  Benjamin.  It  must  have  been  as  shocking  to  the  clergy 
of  that  time  as  any  of  the  articles  published  before  the  prosecution 
of  the  paper : 

••'At  the  last  Meeting  of  our  Club,  one  of  the  Company  read  to 
us  some  Passages  from  a  zealous  Author  against  Hat-Honour^ 
Titular  7?espec^5,  &c.,  which  we- will  communicate  to  the  Reader 
for  the  Diversion  of  this  Week,  if  he  is  dispos'd  to  be  merry  with 
the  Folly  of  his  Fellow-Creature. 

''^'- Honour^  Friend,  says  Jie^  properly  ascends,  &  not  descends; 
'  yet  the  Hat,  w^hen  the  Head  is  uncover'd,  descends,  and  therefore 
'  there  can  be  no  Honour  in  it.  Besides,  Honour  was  from  the  ^e- 
^  ginning,  but  Hats  are  an  invention  of  a  late  Time,  and  conse- 
'  quently  true  Honour  standeth  not  therein. 

'"In  old  Time  it  was  no  disrespect  for  Men  and  Women  to  be 
'  cail'd  by  their  own  Names :  Adam,  was  never  called  Master 
'  Adam ;  we  never  read  of  Noah  Esquire,  Lot  Knight  and  Baronet, 
'  nor  the  Might  Honourable  Abraham,  Viscount  Mesopotamia, 
'  Baron  of  Canaan ;  no,  no,  they  were  plain  Men,  honest  Country 
'  Grasiers,  that  took  care  of  their  Families  and  their  Flocks.  Moses 
'  was  a  great  Prophet,  and  Aaro7i  a  priest  of  the  Lord ;  but  we 
*  never  read  of  the  lieverend  Moses,  nor  the  Bight  Bever end  Father 
'  in  God,  Aaron,  by  Divine  Providence,  Lord  Arch-Bishop  of 
'  Israel :  Thou  neveji-  sawest  Madain  Rebecca  in  the  Bible,  my 
'  Lady  Rachel :  nor  Mary,  tho'  a  Princess  of  the  Blood  after  the 
'  Death  of  Joseph,  cail'd  the  Princess  Dowager  of  Nazareth ;  no, 
'  plain  Bebecca,  Bachel,  Mary,  or  the  Widow  Mary,  or  the  like : 
'  It  was  no  Incivility  then  to  mention  their  naked  Names  as  they 
'  were  expressed.' 

"  If  common  civility,  and  a  generous  Deportment  among  Mankind, 


94  LIFE   AI^D   TIMES    OF    BENJAMlN^    FRANKLIN.  [l723.  | 

be  not  put  out  of  Countenance  by  the  profound  Reasoning  of  this  < 
Author,  we  hope  they  will  continue  to  treat  one  another  handsomely 
to  the  end  of  the  World.  We  will  not  pretend  an  Answer  to  these 
Arguments  against  Modern  Decency  and  Titles  of  Honour :  yet  ono 
of  our  Club  will  undertake  to  prove,  that  tho'  Abraham  was  not 
styl'd  Right  Honourable^  yet  he  had  the  Title  of  Lord  given  him  by 
his  Wife  Sarah,  which  he  thinks  entitles  her  to  the  Honour  of  Mi/ 1 
Lady  Sarah ;  and  Rachel  being  married  into  the  same  Family,  he 
concludes  she  may  deserve  the  Title  of  My  Lady  Rachel.  But  this 
is  but  the  Opinion  of  one  Man ;  it  was  never  put  to  Vote  in  the ' 
Society." 

The  following,  too,  is  quite  in  the  spirit  of  Franklin : 
"  Upon  tlie  whole.  Friend  Janus,  we  may  conclude,  that  the 
Anti-Couranteers  are  a  sort  of  Precisians,  who,  mistaking  Religion 
for  the  peculiar  Whims  of  their  own  distemper'd  Brain,  are  for  cut- 
ting or  stretching  all  men  to  their  own  Standard  of  Thinking.  I 
wish  Mr.  Symmes's  Character  may  secure  him  from  the  Woes  and 
Curses  they  are  so  free  of  dispensing  among  their  dissenting  Neigh- 
bours, who  are  so  unfortunate  as  to  discover  a  Chearfulness  becom- 
ing Christianity.  Sir  Thomas  Hope  Blount  in  his  Essays,  has  said 
enough  to  convince  us  of  the  Unreasonableness  of  this  sour  Temper 
among  Christians ;  and  with  his  Words  I  shall  conclude : 

'"Certainly  {says  he)  of  all  sorts  of  men,  none  do  more  mistake 
'the  Divine  Nature,  and  by  consequence  do  greater  mischief  to 
'Religion,  than  those  who  would  persuade  us,  That  to  be  truly 
'  Religious,  is  to  renounce  all  the  Pleasures  of  Humane  Life  ;  As  if 
'  Religion  were  a  Caput  Mortuum,  a  heavy,  dull,  insipid  thing : 
'  that  has  neither  Heat,  Life,  nor  motion  in  it ;  Or  were  intended  for 
'  a  Medusa'^s  Head  to  transform  Men  into  Monuments  of  Stone. 
'Whereas  (really)  Religion  is  of  an  Active  Principle,  it  not  only 
'  elevates  the  Mind,  and  invigorates  the  Fancy ;  but  it  admits  of 
'  Mirth,  and  pleasantness  of  Conversation,  and  indulges  us  in  our 
'Christian  Liberties;  and  for  this  reason,  says  .the  Lord  Bacon,  It 
'  is  no  less  impious  to  shut  where  God  Almighty  has  open\l,  than  to 
'  OY)en  where  God  Almighty  has  shut.  But,  I  say,  if  Men  will  suf- 
'  fer  themselves  to  be  thus  impos'd  upon,  as  to  Believe  That  Religion 
'requires  any  such  unnecessary  Rigours  and  Austerities,  all  that  can 
'  be  said  is.  The  fault  does  not  lye  in  Religion,  but  in  their  Under- 
'  standings ;  Nor  is  this  to  paint  Religion  like  her  self,  but  rather 


AGED    17.]  THE    FIRST   SEXSATION   NEWSPAPER.  96 

'  like  one  of  the  Furies  with  nothing  but  Whips  and  Snakes  about 
'  her.  And  so,  thej  Worship  God  just  as  the  Indians  do  the  Devil^ 
'  not  as  they  love  him,  but  because  they  are  afraid  of  him.'  " 

Thus  our  merry  youth  and  his  jovial  friends  strive  to  amuse  and 
startle  the  Boston  of  1723.  He  spoke  the  truth,  but  not  all  the 
truth.  The  brethren  at  whom  he  aimed  his  ridicule  were  seriously 
striving,  with  the  best  light  they  had,  to  become  good  and  better 
men.  To  that  end,  they  were  making  weekly  and  daily  efforts. 
For  that  purpose,  they  went  to  church  on  Sundays,  and,  on  week 
days  went  apart  from  the  converse  of  men,  to  meditate  on  their 
ways  and  on  their  duty.  They  were  on  the  watch  against  rising 
j  passions  and  turbulent  desij-es ;  they  were  warring  Avith  the  world, 
Sthe  flesh,  and  the  devil.  This  was  the  advantage  they  had  over 
i their  witty  adversaries;  and  this  was  the  reason  why  they  at 
L  length  prevailed.  The  brethren  may  have  been  going  toward 
I  Jerusalem  m  a  painful,  roundabout,  and  irrational  manner,  but  they 
j  were  going.  The  young  Couranters  had  not  made  up  their  minds 
!  whether  or  not  there  was  a  Jerusalem.  To  use  Franklin's  own 
simile,  they  Avere  knocking  out  the  bung  of  the  beer-barrel,  before 
I  providing  the  cask  of  wine.  This  was  the  course  pursued  by  all 
I  the  wits  of  that  scoffing  century,  from  Voltaire,  downward ;  and 
I  that  was  the  reason  why,  with  all  their  genius  and  knowledge, 
!  they  produced  a  merely  transitory  effect.  The  poor  peasants  who 
i  went  to  mass  in  Voltaire's  village  were  doing  their  best  to  be  good 
men.  Voltaire  was  chiefly  striving  to  show  Europe  what  a  witty 
man  Voltaire  was  ;  and  hence,  the  poor  peasants  were  wiser  in  their 
j  generation  than  the  children  of  light. 

\      As  a  set-off  to  the  heresies  of  the  Courant,it  should  be  mentioned 
that  it  was  through  th:it  journal  that  the  colonists  first  became  ac- 
quainted with  the  sacred  poems  of  Dr.  Isaac  Watts,  who  was  then 
a  poor  and  unknown  English  curate,  with  an  income  of  a  hundred 
pounds  a  year,  of  which  he  gave  away  one-third.       The  Courant 
published  his  psalms  and  hymns,  from  time  to  time,  with  warm  com- 
\  mendation.     To  a  generation  accustomed  to  sing  the  doggerel  of 
'  Sternhold  and  Hopkins,  they  must   have  seemed  sublime  indeed. 
I  Watts  was  always  a  favorite  with  Franklin,  Avho,  on  his  death-bed, 
heard  him  read  with  pleasure  and  emotion. 

The   Courant  appears  to  have  prospered  under  its  young  pub- 
lisher.    A  month  after  James  Franklin  fell  under  the  ban  of  the 


96  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [lV23, 

council,  we  read  in  the  Oourant :  "  This  Paper  having  met  with 
so  general  an  Acceptance  in  Town  and  Country,  as  to  require  a  far 
greater  number  of  them  to  be  printed,  than  there  is  of  the  other 
publick  Papers ;  and  it  being  besides  more  generally  read  by  a  Vast 
Number  of  Borrowers,  who  do  not  take  it  in,  the  Publisher  thinks 
proper  to  give  this  publick  Notice  for  the  Incouragement  of  those 
who  would  have  Advertisements  inserted  in  the  publick  Prints, which 
they  may  have  printed  in  this  Paper  at  a  moderate  price." 

Three  months  later,  the  price  of  the  paper  was  raised  from  three 
pence  to  four  pence,  and  from  ten  shillings  a  year  to  twelve  shillings. 


CHAPTER  VIII. 

A  RUNAWAY  APPRENTICE. 


As  the  gay  Couranters  commented  so  freely  upon  the  ways  of 
the  brethren,  their  own  conduct  ought  to  have  been  most  exem- 
plary. It  was  not.  Cotton  Mather,  who  had  all  the  stock  classical 
allusions  at  his  tongue's  end,  might  have  turned  upon  the  con- 
ductors of  the  Coiirant^  if  he  had  had  access  to  its  sanctum,  and 
said,  "  Young  physicians,  heal  yourselves."  James  and  Benjamin, 
brothers  though  they  were,  had  not  virtue  enough  between  them 
to  live  together  in  tolerable  peace.  The  elder  was  jealous  of  the 
younger's  reputation.  He  was  harsh  and  unjust  to  him;  and  Ben- 
jamin owns,  in  his  autobiography,  that  "perhaps,  he  was  too  saucy\ 
and  provoking."  James  did  not  know  that  he  had  the  most  valu-i 
able  apprentice  in  the  world,  and  the  apprentice  knew  it  too  well. 

Benjamin,  however,  had  thrown  himself  most  heartily  into  his 
brother's  contest  with  the  Council,  had  defended  hiin  ably  in  the 
Courant^  and  exerted  all  his  talents  in  covering  the  persecutors 
with  ridicule.  Benjamin,  I  think,  had  a  hand  in  getting  up  that 
article  of  six  columns  in  the  Coiirant  of  May  8,  1723,  in  which  the 
illegality  and  unconstitutionality  of  the  prosecution  were  demon- 
strated. We  have  a  right  to  conclude,  for  many  reasons,  that  the 
elder  brother  was  the  one  most  in  fault. 

The   canceling  of  his  indentures  had  set  the  apprentice  free; 


AGED    17.]  A   RUNAWAY   APPRENTICE.  97 

since  his  brother  would  not  dare  to  appeal  to  the  secret  document 
which  still  bound  him.  But,  neither  this  circumstance,  nor  the 
lad's  increased  age  and  usefulness,  had  the  effect  of  rendering  his 
brother  less  exacting  or  better  tempered.  A  quarrel,  more  violent 
than  any  previous  one,  occurred  between  the  brothers,  a  few 
months  after  the  second  attempt  to  silence  the  Gourant.  From 
words  James  Franklin  proceeded  to  blows,  though  his  brother  was 
then  seventeen  years  of  age.  The  youth,  burning  with  indigna- 
tion, asserted  his  right  to  be  free,  and  declared  his  intention  to 
leave  his  brother's  service.  It  is  an  evidence  how  changed  our 
feelings  have  become  with  regard  to  the  sanctity  of  engagements, 
that  this  resolve  of  the  apprentice  to  leave  his  brother,  which  few 
persons  of  the  present  day  would  be  inclined  to  censure,  Franklin 
regarded  as  "  one  of  the  first  errata"  of  his  life.  His  father,  also, 
urged  him  to  remain  and  fulfill  his  contract  with  his  brother. 

Benjamin  adhered  to  his  resolve.  His  brother  went  round  to  all 
the  printers  in  Boston,  giving  them  his  own  version  of  the  differ- 
ence between  himself  and  his  apprentice.  When  Benjamin  applied 
to  them  for  employment,  they  all  made  common  cause  with  his 
master,  and  refused  him.  The  youth  would  not  yield.  His  fancy 
wandered  to  other  scenes.  Boston  was  not  all  the  world.  Be- 
sides, he  already  shared  the  odium  of  the  Gourant^  and  his  Socratic 
disputations  upon  religion  had  rendered  him,  in  the  eyes  of  many 
worthy  people,  an  object  of  horror.  He  was  pointed  at  as  an  infi- 
del and  an  atheist.  From  what  he  had  seen  of  the  treatment  of  his 
brother,  he  inferred  that  he  should  be  in  great  danger  of  getting 
into  scrapes  himself,  if  he  established  himself  in  Boston  as  a  printer. 
Revolving  such  thoughts  in  his  anxious  mind,  he  was  soon  prepared 
for  that  bold  step,  through  which  Boston  lost  a  troublesome  prin- 
ter, and  the  world  gained  a  Benjamin  Franklin. 

Running  away  must  have  been  a  familiar  idea  to  this  angry  and 
resolute  youth,  since  he  had  a  hundred  times  read  in  the  Wews 
Ijetter,  and  very  often  set  in  type  in  the  Courant,  advertisements 
offering  four  pounds  reward  for  catching  runaway  apprentices. 
The  extraordinary  number  of  such  advertisements  in  the  colonial 
newspapers,  is  some  confirmation  of  Adam  Smith's  argument 
against  binding  boys  for  a  term  of  years  to  learn  a  trade.  Run- 
away negroes  and  runaway  apprentices  made  the  staple  of  adver- 
tising in  the  colonies  for  many  years. 


98  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1723. 

Benjamin  had  resolved  to  run  away.  There  were  then  but  three 
towns  in  the  colonies  which  could  boast  a  printing  office :  Boston, 
i!^ew  York,  and  Philadelphia.  To  New  York,  only  because  it  was 
nearer  than  Philadelphia,  he  determined  to  go.  His  old  friend, 
John  Collins,  with  whom  he  had  discussed  the  education  of  women, 
.ind  v/hom  he  had  converted  to  deism,  undertook  to  manage  his 
flight,  and  engaged  a  passage  for  him  in  a  ISTew  York  sloop.  To 
account  for  his  coming  on  board  secretly  and  keeping  himself  con- 
cealed, Collins  told  the  Captain,  that  his  friend  had  had  an  intrigue 
with  a  girl  of  bad  character,  whose  parents  were  determined  to 
make  him  marry  her.  To  raise  the  passage  money  the  runaway 
was  obliged  to  sell  some  of  his  precious  books. 

Franklin  has  not  given  us  the  date  of  his  departure;  but  I  notice. 
a  little  advertisement  in  the  Neio  England  Oourant  for  Septembei* 
SO,  1723,  w^hich  enables  us  to  infer  about  what  time  the  event  oc- 
curred: "James  Franklin,  printer  in  Queens  Street,  wants  a  likely 
lad  for  an  apprentice." 

Even  the  voyage  from  Boston  to  New  York  was  not  safe  at  that 
time  from  the  highwaymen  of  the  sea.  •  July  19,  1723,  twenty-six 
pirates  were  hanged  at  Newport,  Rhode  Island.  It  was  in  1723, 
that  two  pirate  vessels  came  in  near  Sandy  Hook,  and  engaged  the 
British  man-of-war.  Greyhound.  After  a  hard  fight,  the  Grey- 
hound managed  to  capture  one  of  the  pirate  vessels,  with  her  crew 
of  forty-two  men,  all  of  whom  were  executed,  soon  after,  on  Long 
Island.  Benjamin  Franklin  may  have  seen  their  bodies  hanging  in 
chains  as  the  sloop  glided  past.  The  piratical  craft  that  escaped 
sailed  away  northward  and  made  twenty  French  prizes,  and  was 
the  terror  of  the  sea  until  1725,  when  the  government  was  aroused 
at  length,  and  nearly  suppressed  piracy  on  the  American  coast.* 

Our  young  friend,  however,  had  a  safe,  swift,  and  pleasant  pas- 
sage, of  which  one  incident  only  is  know^n  to  us.  When  the  sloop 
was  becalmed  one  day  oif  Block  Island,  the  sailors  amused  them- 
selves by  fishing  for  cod,  as  becalmed  sailors  and  yachtmeu  do  to  this 
day  off  that  coast.  Benjamin,  who  still  adhered  to  his  vegetarian 
theory,  regarded  the  taking  of  life  for  the  sake  of  procuring  food 
as  murder.  Fishing,  in  particular,  w^as  murder  unprovoked ;  for  no 
one  could  contend  that  these  cod,  which  the  sailors  kept  hauling  up 

*  Watson's  '^Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  ii.,  226. 


AGED    17.]  A   RUNAWAY   APPRENTICE.  99 

over  the  sloop's  bulwarks  and  slapping  down  upon  the  deck,  had 
wrought  any  harm  to  their  captors.  This  argument,  so  long  as  the 
mere  catching  continued,  seemed  unanswerable;  but  when,  by  and 
by  the  cod  began  to  send  forth  a  most  alluring  odor  from  the 
fiVing-pan,  the  tempted  vegetarian,  who  had  formerly  been  ex- 
tremely fond  of  fish,  found  it  necessary  to  go  over  his  reasomng 
a-ain,  to  see  if  there  was  not  a  flaw  in  it.  He  was  so  unhappy  as 
not  to  be  able  to  find  one,  and  fur  some  minutes  there  was  a  strug- 
de  between  principle  and  inclination.  It  occurred  to  him,  at  length, 
that  when  the  fish  were  opened  he  had  seen  smaller  fish  m  their 
stomachs.  "If  you  eat  one  another,"  said  he  to  himself,  "I 
don't  see  why  we  may  not  eat  you."  So  he  dined  upon  cod  very 
heartily,  and  continued  afterwards  to  eat  what  other  people  ate. 
After  telling  this  story  he  makes  an  observation  which  is  otten  at- 
tributed to  Talleyrand  and  others,  but  which  was  a  familiar  joke 
with  Franklin  when  Talleyrand  was  a  boy.  "  So  convenient  a  thing 
it  is  "  says  Franklin,  "  to  be  a  reasonable  creature,  since  it  enables  . 
one  to  find  or  make  a  reason  for  every  thing  one  has  a  mind  to  do." 
In  the  beautiful  month  of  October,  1723,  after  a  passage  of  three 
days  from  Boston,  Benjamin  Franklin,  then  nearly  eighteen  years 
W,  stood  in  the  streets  of  New  York.  He  had  not  an  acquamt- 
ance  in  the  town;  he  had  no  letter  of  recommendation;   he  had 

very  little  money.  -,  •  .    t  v 

New  York  was  then  a  town  of  seven  or  eight  thousand  inhabit- 
ants, where  most  objects  that  met  the  eye  and  most  sounds  that 
caught  the  ear  were  Dutch.  The  houses  had  their  gable-ends  to- 
ward the  street;  the  sidewalks  were  cobble-stoned;  the  streets 
were  those  narrow,  crooked  lanes  which  we  still  find  at  the  ex- 
tremity of  Down-Town.  It  was  a  clean,  compact,  tidy,  country 
place.  A  Philadclphian  wrote,  some  years  after:  "the  rough 
stones  which  formed  the  pavement  of  New  York  were  so  thor- 
oughly  swept  that  the  stones  stand  up  sharp  and  promment,  to 
the  great  inconvenience  of  those  who  are  not  accustomed  to  so 
rou^h  a  path.  But  habit  reconciles  every  thing.  It  is  diverting 
enough  to  see  a  Philadclphian  at  New  York;  he  walks  the  streets 
with  as  much  painful  caution  as  if  his  toes  were  covered  with  corns, 
or  his  feet  lamed  with  the  gout:  while  a  New  Yorker,  as  little  ap- 
proving the  plain  masonry  of  Philadelphia,  shuffles  along  the  pave- 
ment like  a  parrot  on  a  mahogany  table." 


100  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l723. 

As  the  people  were  chiefly  Dutch,  there  was  little  encouragement 
in  'New  York  for  English  printers.  Boston  had  established  a 
newspaper  in  1704  ;  Philadelphia  had  one  in  1719  ;  but  New  York, 
not  until  1725.  When  young  Franklin  arrived  here  in  1723,  there 
was  not  a  bookstore  in  the  town,  and  only  one  printing-office,  that 
of  old  William  Bradford,  formerly  of  Philadelphia,  progenitor  of  a 
line  of  American  printers.  It  was  he  who  fell  under  the  reproof 
of  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  for  styling  the  founder  of  that 
province  in  an  Almanac,  "  Ye  Lord  Penn."*  Afterward  he  came 
into  more  serious  conflict  with  the  Assembly,  and  removed  to  New 
York ;  where  he  had  then  exercised  his  vocation  for  thirty  years. 
He  was  soon  to  found  the  first  New  York  newspaper  and  the  first 
American  paper  mill.f  His  son,  Andrew  Bradford,  had  been  estab- 
lished in  Philadelphia  as  a  printer  since  1712,  and  had  started 
there,  in  1719,  the  first  newspaper  of  that  city,  the  American 
Weekly  Mercury. 

To  William  Bradford  the  runaway  at  once  applied  for  employ- 
ment. Bradford  could  give  him  none,  as  he  had  little  to  do,  and 
had  already  as  many  hands  as  he  could  employ.  He  told  him,  how- 
ever, that  his  son,  in  Philadelphia,  had  just  lost,  by  death,  his  prin- 
cipal journeyman,  Aquila  Rose.  "  If  you  go  there,"  added  Brad- 
ford, "  he  may  employ  you."  As  the  young  man  had,  by  this  time, 
outlived  his  passion  for  the  sea,  he  had  but  the  alternatives  to 
go  home,  or  to  go  on  in  pursuit  of  work.  He  appears  to  have  de- 
cided upon  the  bolder  course,  without  a  moment's  hesitation. 

Leaving  his  chest  and  other  effects  to  go  round  by  sea,  he  took 
passage  for  Amboy,  in  a  crazy  old  boat,  with  rotten  sails,  managed 
by  one  boatman.     Besides  himself,  there  was  another  passenger,  a 

*  Janney's  "Life  of  William  Penn,"  p.  545. 

t  The  tombstone  over  the  grave  of  William  Bradford  in  Trinity  churchyard,  New  York,  bears 
this  inscription : 

"Here  lies  the  body  of  Mr.  William  Bradford,  printer,  who  departed  this  life  May  23,  1752, 
aged  92  years.  He  was  born  in  Leicestershire,  in  old  England,  in  1670,  and  came  over  to  America 
in  16S2,  before  the  city  of  Philadelphia  was  laid  out.  He  was  printer  to  this  Government  for  up- 
ward of  fifty  years,  and  being  quite  worn  ottt  with  old  age  and  labor,  he  left  this  mortal  stito  in 
the  Kvely  hope  of  a  blessed  immortality, 

"Reader,  reflect  how  soon  you'll  quit  this  stage; 
You'll  find  but  few  attain  to  such  an  age. 
Life's  full  of  pain :  lo !  here's  a  place  of  rest. 
Prepare  to  meet  your  God :  then  you  are  blest. 

"Here  also  lies  the  body  of  Elizabeth,  wife  of  the  said  William  Bradford,  who  departed  this 
life  July  3, 1781,  aged  68  years." 


AGED  17.]  A    RUNAWAY    APPEEJiTTICE.  101 

drunken  Dutchman.  Soon  after  passing  tlie  island  which  is  now 
called  Governor's  Island,  then  uninhabited,  covered  with  the  pri- 
meval forest,  and  gorgeous  with  autumnal  hues,  the  boat  was  struck 
by  a  squall,  which  tore  the  sails  to  pieces,  drove  the  boat  over  to- 
ward Long  Island,  and  pitched  the  Dutchman  overboard.  As  he 
was  sinking,  young  Franklin  caught  him  by  his  hair,  and  drew  him 
up,  so  that  he  was  got  aboard  again.  Partly  sobered  by  his  duck- 
ing, he  took  a  book  out  of  his  pocket,  and  asked  his  preserver  to  dry 
it  for  him,  after  which  he  lay  down  and  fell  asleep.  The  book 
proved  to  be  a  fine  copy,  in.  Dutch,  with  engravings  on  copper,  of 
the  first  favorite  of  the  runaway's  childhood,  "  Pilgrim's  Progress." 
He  had  never  before  seen  it  in  so  elegant  a  dress.  The  boat  con- 
tinued to  drive  before  the  wind  until  it  was  near  the  Long  Island 
shore,  on  which  the  surf  was  breaking  so  violently  as  to  threaten 
the  boat  with  destruction.  They  cast  their  anchor,  and  swung 
round  toward  the  land.  They  saw  some  people  come  down  to  the 
shore ;  but  so  loud  was  the  roar  of  the  surf,  that  they  could  neither 
make  themselves  heard,  nor  hear  the  shouts  of  the  men  on  the  beach. 
Hungry  as  they  were,  for  they  had  no  provisions  on  board  but  a 
bottle  of  bad  rum,  there  was  no  resource  but  to  wait  for  the  lulling 
of  the  wind.  All  night  long,  Franklin,  the  boatman,  and  the  wet 
Dutchman,  lay  crowded  together  under  the  hatches,  the  spray  break- 
ing over  the  bows,  and  leaking  upon  them  through  the  deck,  till  they 
were  all  drenched.  They  passed  a  sleepless  and  miserable  night.  In 
the  morning,  the  wind  having  abated,  they  managed  to  get  the  old 
boat  before  the  wind,  and,  late  in  the  afternoon,  reached  Amboy. 
For  thirty  hours,  they  had  tasted  neither  food  nor  water  ;  so  soli- 
tary and  resourceless  were  then  those  channels  which  now  are 
crowded  with  vessels,  lined  with  villages,  and  paved  with  oysters. 

Every  one  who  has  been  accustomed  to  sail  about  New  York 
bay  will  readily  understand  this  disagreeable  adventure.  The 
writer  of  these  pages  has  been  caught  by  just  such  squalls,  in  just 
that  squally  spot  beyond  Governor's  Island,  and  driven  over  to- 
ward Greenwood  Cemetery,  as  young  Franklin  was  in  1723.  What 
boating  boy  of  New  York  has  not  ? 

The  youth  found  himself  feverish  that  evening,  after  his  long  ab- 
stinence and  exposure.  When  he  had  got  into  bed,  he  remembered 
having  read  that  drinking  plentifully  of  cold  water  was  good  for  a 
fever.      He  followed  the  prescription,  perspired  profusely,  and  rose 


10^  li^E   ASTD   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l723. 

the  next  morning  quite  free  from  fever.  The  water-curists  practice 
the  same  simple  remedy  at  the  present  day. 
-"'^  A  walk  of  fifty  miles,  from  Amboy  across  the  province  of  New- 
Jersey  to  Burlington,  on  the  Delaware  River,  was  next  to  be  un- 
dertaken by  our  traveler.  Thirty-three  years  were  yet  to  elapse 
before  the  establishment  of  the  first  line  of  stages  across  New  Jer- 
sey;  and  if  there  had  been  stages  in  1723,  this  traveler  had  not 
twelve  shillings  with  which  to  pay  his  fare.  It  rained  hard  the 
morning  after  his  arrival  at  Amboy,  but  he  could  not  afibrd  to  wait. 
Soaked  with  rain,  he  trudged  along  till  noon,  when  he  was  a  good 
deal  tired,  and  coming  to  a  poor  inn  by  the  road-side,  he  resolved 
to  stay  till  the  next  morning.  And  now,  for  the  first  time,  his  heart 
began  to  fail  him.  He  began  to  wish  he  had  not  left  home  ;  and 
the  more,  as  he  saw  he  was  suspected  of  being  a  runaway,  and  was 
in  some  danger  of  being  taken  up.  He  was,  indeed,  by  this  time,  a 
sorry  figure.  He  had  started  from  Boston  in  his  working  clothes, 
which,  by  exposure  to  rain,  and  the  wear  and  tear  of  travel,  had 
become  shabby  and  dilapidated  in  the  extreme.  Well  formed  and 
well  grown  as  he  was,  with  a  handsome,  open  face,  and  a  fresh, 
ruddy  complexion,  he  looked  as  little  like  the  destined  father  of  one 
of  New  Jersey's  future  governors  as  can  be  imagined. 

The  next  day  he  took  to  the  road  again,  and  made  such  good  pro- 
gress as  to  sleep  that  night  within  ten  miles  of  Burlington,  which 
he  reached  the  next  morning,  the  day  being  Saturday.  Burlington 
is  seventeen  miles  above  Philadelphia.  As  he  passed  through  the 
town  to  get  to  the  river  side,  he  bought  some  ginger-bread  of  an 
old  woman,  who,  as  it  proved,  saw  something  in  this  young  man 
besides  his  worn  and  travel-stained  clothes.  On  reaching  the  river, 
he  v/as  sadly  disappointed  to  find  that  the  regular  Saturday  boat 
had  gone,  and  that  no  other  was  expected  to  leave  before  the  next 
Tuesday.  There  was  no  road  between  Burlington  and  a  point 
opposite  Philadelphia,  else  he  could  have  walked  to  it,  and  trusted 
to  fortune  to  get  him  over  the  broad  Delaware.  He  had,  therefore, 
to  consider  how  a  young  fellow,  with  a  keen  appetite,  a  perfect 
digestion,  and  five  shillings,  could  live  at  Burlington  three  days,  pay 
his.'jpassage  down  the  river,  and  not  arrive  at  Philadelphia  penniless. 
He  went  back  to  the  old  woman,  of  whom  he  had  bought  the  ginger- 
bread, and  asked  her  advice.  The  good  soul  invited  him  to  lodge 
in  her  house  until  Tuesday.     Tired  as  he  was  with  his  long  jour- 


AGED    17.]  A    EUNAWAY   APPBENTICE.  103 

ney,  he  gladly  accepted  her  invitation.  The  hospitable  old  lady  gave 
him  a  dinner  of  ox  cheek,  to  which  the  guest  contributed  a  pot  of 
beer.  He  supposed  himself  fixed  in  Burlington  till  Tuesday 
should  come  round.  The  old  lady,  on  being  told  that  her  guest  was 
a  printer,  amused  him  by  urging  him  to  stay  in  the  town  and  follow 
his  trade,  having  no  notion  of  the  requirements  of  a  printing  office. 

In  the  evening,  as  he  was  walking  on  the  bank  of  the  river,  a 
chance  boat  came  along,  having  on  board  several  passengers,  bound 
for  Philadelphia.  They  agreed  to  take  him  in,  and  he  was  soon  on 
board,  moving  slowly  down  toward  his  destination.  As  there  was 
no  wind,  they  were  obliged  to  row.  About  midnight,  the  city  not 
yet  being  in  sight,  some  of  the  passengers  protested  they  must 
have  passed  it,  and  would  row  no  more ;  and  as  the  others  Iqicw 
not  where  they  were,  it  was  agreed  to  land,  and  wait  for  daylight. 
Finding  a  little  creek,  they  put  into  it,  landed,  made  a  fire  of  the 
rails  of  an  old  fence,  and  there  remained  till  the  dawn  of  day.  One 
of  tiio  company  then  recognizing  the  place  as  Cooper's  Creek, 
which  he  knew  to  be  a  short  distance  above  the  city,  they  re-em- 
barked, and  had  no  sooner  got  into  the  Delaware  again,  than  Phila- 
delphia came  into  view.  Between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  on  Sun- 
day morning,  the  boat  was  made  fast  at  Market  Street  Wharf,  and 
Franklin  went  on  shore.  He  had  one  silver  dollar,  and  a  shilling 
in  coppers.  The  boatmen  refused  to  take  any  thing  for  his  passage, 
as  he  had  helped  them  row  the  boat ;  but  he  insisted  on  their  taking 
all  his  copper  coin.  "  Man,"  he  remarks,  after  relating  this  incident, 
"is  sometimes  more  generous  when  lie  has  little  money,  than  when 
he  has  plenty ;  perhaps,  to  prevent  his  being  thought  to  have  but 
little." 

The  events  of  his  first  day  in  Philadelphia  all  the  world  knows 
by  heart.  He  stepped  upon  the  wharf,  worn  out  with  hunger, 
fatigue,  exposure,  and  want  of  sleep.  His  clothes  and  his  person 
were  dirty ;  his  pockets  were  stuffed  out  Vvith  shirts  and  stockings. 
He  wore,  doubtless,  the  knee-breeches  of  buckskin,  the  woolen 
stockings,  the  voluminous  and  long  coat,  the  long  and  ample  waist- 
coat, the  low  large  shoes,  and  the  broad-brimmed  hat  of  the  period  ; 
a  dress  imposing  in  the  highest  degree  when  it  is  new  and  hand- 
some, but  susceptible  of  most  woful  and  draggled  shabbiness. 
Vast  were  the  pockets  of  that  generation ;  the  pockets  of  the  coat 
were  at  the  sides,  instead  of  behind  ;  and  it  was  these  side-pockets, 


104  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OP  BENJAMIN  FEANKXTN.  [l723. 

no  doubt,  which  the  runaway  had  stuffed  with  shirts  and  stockings. 
As  he  walked  np  into  the  town,  gazing  about  hira,  he  met  a  boy 
with  bread.  Often,  in  Boston,  he  had  made  a  meal  of  dry  bread  ; 
and  so,  after  learning  from  the  boy  where  he  had  bought  it,  he 
went  to  the  shop,  and  asked  for  biscuits,  meaning  a  kind  of  bread 
made  by  the  Boston  bakers.  It  was  not  known  in  Philadelphia. 
He  then  asked  for  a  three-penny  loaf,  but  the  baker  had  none.  He 
asked  for  three  pence  worth  of  bread  of  any  kind,  and  was  sur- 
prised to  receive  three  puffy  rolls,  of  a  magnitude  that  seemed  to 
him  out  of  all  proportion  to  the  price.  Fertile  Pennsylvania  was  a 
wheat  country  from  the  beginning,  which  sterile  Massachusetts 
never  was.  Having  no  room  in  his  pockets,  he  walked  off  with  a 
roll  under  each  arm,  and  eating  a  third.  As  he  went  up  Market 
Street,  he  passed  by  the  house  of  Mr.  Read,  w^hose  blooming 
daughter  Deborah,  a  lass  of  eighteen,  stood  at  the  door,  and  won- 
dered at  his  strange  and  ridicnlous  appearance.  Unconscious  of 
the  figure  he  was  making  in  the  eyes  of  his  future  wife,  he  walked 
on  as  far  ns  Fourth  Street,  beyond  which  the  town  w^as  not  closely 
built,  for  Philadelphia  w^as  then  only  a  spread-out,  grassy,  gardened 
village,  of  seven  thousand  inhabitants,  with  plenty  of  the  trees  still 
standing  of  the  tangled  forest  that  had  covered  the  site  only  forty- 
one  years  before.  Wolves,  bears,  and  deer  were  shot  within  four 
miles  of  the  town  for  ten  years  after  Franklin  first  saw  it,  and  In- 
dians often  swarmed  in  the  streets. 

Still  eating  his  roll,  the  stranger  walked  along  Fourth  Street  to 
Chestnut  Street,  down  Chestnut  Street  a  little  way,  then  turned 
into  Walnut  Street,  down  Walnut  Street  to  the  river,  and  along 
the  river  to  Market  Street  Wharf  again.  By  that  time  he  had 
finished  his  roll,  and  then  completed  his  breakfast  with  a  draught 
of  water  from  the  river.  The  other  two  rolls  he  gave  to  a  poor 
woman  and  her  child,  who  had  been  passengers  in  the  boat  and 
were  waiting  at  the  wharf  to  continue  their  voyage  down  the  river. 

Refreshed  with  his  breakfast,  he  went  again  into  Market  Street, 
which  was  then  alive  with  neatly  dressed  people  all  going  in  one 
direction.  Jobiing  the  throng,  he  was  led  to  what  was  then  called 
the  ''  Great  Meeting  House"  of  the  Quakers,  which  stood  at  the 
corner  of  Second  Street  and  Market  Street,  on  ground  given  for  the 
purpose  by  the  founder  of  the  colony.  This  building  was  the  fore- 
runner of  that  vast  range  of  ancient,  dark,  barrack-looking  houses 


AGED    17.]  THE   STRANGER   FINDS   FRIENDS.  105 

ill  Arch  Street,  wherein  still  assembles  the  largest  congregation  of 
Friends  in  the  world,  and  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  head- 
quarters of  Quakerism  in  America — if  a  military  term  may  be  used 
in  speaking  of  that  nn-militant  sect.  Into  the  "  Great  Meeting 
House,"  the  young  stranger  followed  the  crowd,  and  sat  down. 
He  looked  around  upon  the  congregation  for  a  while,  expecting  the 
exercises  to  begin.  The  silence  remaining  unbroken,  drowsiness 
fell  upon  the  tired  traveler,  and  he  was  soon  fast  asleep.  He  slept 
soundly  till  the  meeting  broke  up,  and  would  still  have  slept  if 
some  one  had  not  been  obliging  enough  to  wake  him. 

As  he  walked  down  toward  the  river  looking  into  the  faces  of  the 
passers-by,  he  accosted  a  young  Quaker,  whose  countenance  pleased 
him,  and  asked  him  where  a  stranger  could  find  a  lodging.  *'  Here," 
said  the  Quaker,  pointing  to  the  Three  Mariners,  "  is  a  house  where 
they  receive  strangers,  but  it  is  not  a  respectable  one  ;  if  thee  will 
walk  with  me,  I'll  show  thee  a  better."  He  conducted  him  along 
the  wharves  to  a  tavern,  called  The  Crooked  Billet^  at  the  end  of 
the  first  alley  above  Chestnut  Street^.  It  was  an  old  tavern  then, 
and  it  continued  to  exist  until  it  wai,  probal^'y,  the  oldest  house  of 
entertainment  in  America.  It  was  not  m^6ntinued  till  about  1825. 
While  the  stranger  was  eating  his  dinn^dt  the  Crooked  Billet,  he 
again  observed,  from  the  questions  askea  him,  that  he  was  suspect- 
ed of  being  a  runaway.  After  dinner  he  lay  down  and  slept  till 
he  was  called  to  supper,  and  soon  after  supper  went  to  bed,  and 
slept  soundly  until  the  morning.  H^  had  then  been  eleven  days 
from  home.  '    r 


CHAPTER  IX. 

THE    STRANGER   FINDS    FRIENDS. 

Early  in  the  morning,  having  dressed  himself  as  neatly  as  he 
could  in  his  old  and  travel-worn  clothes,  for  his  chest  had  not  yet 
arrived,  he  went  to  the  house  of  the  printer,  Andrew  Bradford.  At 
the  printing  office,  he  was  surprised  to  find  old  WilUam  Bradford, 
the  father  of  Andrew,  whom  he  had  seen  in  New  York  a  few  days 
before,  and  who,  by  traveling  on  horseback,  had  reached  Philadel- 
5* 


106  XIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1723. 

pliia  before  him.  Andrew  Bradford  coming  in,  the  old  man  intro- 
duced young  Franklin  to  him.  The  Philadelphian  received  the 
stranger  with  civility,  and  invited  him  in  to  breakfast,  and  told  him 
he  was  already  supplied  with  a  hand ;  but  added  that  one  Samuel 
Keimer  had  recently  set  up  in  the  town.  If  Keimer  should  have 
no  work,  Bradford  kindly  offered  the  youth  a  home  and  a  little  em- 
ployment now  and  then,  till  he  could  do  better. 

The  old  gentleman  offering  to  go  with  him  to  Keimer's  office, 
they  both  went  thither  without  loss  of  time.  In  a  small  o:ffice,  fur- 
nished with  an  old  damaged  press  and  an  incomplete,  wOrn-out 
font  of  types,  they  found  the  new  printer,  standing  at-  the  case  at 
v/ork ;  a  slight,  peculiar-looking  man,  with  a  long  and  untrimmed 
beard.  His  beard  was  itself  a  most  marked  peculiarity  in  an  age 
which  close  shaved  the  countenance,  and  over.whelmed  the  head 
with  purchased  hair.  "Neighbor,"  said  Bradford,  "I  have 
brought  to  see  you,  a  young  man  of  your  business;  perhaps, 
you  may  want  such  a  one."  Keimer  asked  a  few  questions  of  the 
stranger,  and  put  a  composing-stick  into  his  hands  to  see  how  he 
worked.  The  examination  being  satisfactory,  he  said  he  had  no 
work  for  him  then,  but  would  employ  him  soon.  Then,  turning  to 
old  Bradford,  whom  be  had  never  before  seen,  and  Avhose  relation- 
ship to  the  rival  printer  he  was  far  from  suspecting,  he  began  to 
enlarge  upon  his  plans  and  prospects,  saying  that  he  expected  soon 
to  get  the  greater  part  of  the  printing  business  of  the  province  into 
his  own  hands.  Old  Bradford  drew  him  on  by  artful  questions  to 
reveal  the  details  of  his  scheme  and  the  influences  upon  which  he  re- 
lied. Young  Franklin,  who  stood  silently  by  and  heard  the  conver- 
sation, saw  that  Bradford  was  a  "  crafty  old  sophister,"  and  Keimer 
a  "  true  novice." 

The  old  gentleman  left  Franklin  alone  with  Keimer,  who  was 
extremely  astonished  when  he  learned  with  whom  he  had  been 
talking.  Franklin  soon  had  further  insight  into  the  character  of 
this  absurd  and  eccentric  printer.  He  found  that  when  interrupt- 
ed by  the  entrance  of  the  two  visitors  that  morning,  he  had  been 
engaged  in  composing  an  elegy  upon  the  death  of  Aquila  Rose,  a 
young  English  journeyman  of  Andrew  Bradford's,  who  had  died  a 
few  months  before,  lamented  by  the  whole  town.  Besides  being 
an  excellent  printer,  Aquila  Rose  was  Secretary  to  the  Assembly, 
and  a  tolerable  poet.     A  little  volume  of  his  verses  was  published 


AGED    17.]  THE    STRANGER   FINDS   FRIENDS.  107 

many  years  after  his  death,  by  his  son,  Joseph  Rose,  an  apprentice 
of  Franklin's.  Keimer  was  setting  the  elegy  in  type  as  he  com- 
posed it,  not  employing  pen  or  paper.  The  whole  of  this  production 
has  been  preserved,  and  even  one  copy  of  the  very  hand-bill,  "  price, 
two-pence,"  upon  which  it  was  originally  printed  by  Franklin's  own 
hand.*  As  the  new  comer  looked  over  the  incomplete  work  of 
Keimer  that  morning,  and  read  it,  perhaps,  as  it  lay  in  type,  it  was 
these  words  that  he  looked  upon  : 

"AN  ELEGY 

On  the  much  lamented  death  of  the  ingenious  and  well  beloved 

Aquila  Rose, 

Clerk  to  the  Honorable  Assembly  at  Philadelphia,  who  died  the  twenty-fourth  of 
the  fourth  month,  1723.   Aged  28. 

*'•  What  mournful  accents  thus  accost  mine  ear, 
What  doleful  echoes  hourly  thus  appear ! 
What  sighs  from  melting  hearts  proclaim  aloud 
The  solemn  mourning  of  this  numerous  crowd. 
In  sable  characters  the  news  is  read, 
Our  Kose  is  withered,  and  our  Eagle's  fled, 
In  that  our  dear  Aquila  Rose  is  dead." 

The  elegy  proceeds,  for  a  hundred  lines  or  more,  to  descant  upon 
the  birth,  education,  emigration,  courtship,  accomplishments,  death, 
funeral,  funeral  sermon,  and  happy  destiny  of  the  departed  printer. 

Keimer  resuming  his  task,  in  which  no  one  could  assist  him,  Frank- 
lin made  himself  useful  by  getting  into  order  the  damaged  old  print- 
ing press,  of  which  Keimer  knew  nothing ;  that  done,  he  returned 
to  Bradford's  hospitable  house,  promising  Keimer  to  come  and  print 
off  the  elegy  as  soon  as  it  should  be  completed.  For  several  days 
he  continued  to  live  at  Bradford's,  doing  a  little  work  also,  in  his 
office.  Sent  foi',  at  length,  to  print  the  labored  effusion  of  Keimer's 
brain,  he  found  that  that  eccentric  person  had  both  increased  his 
stock  of  material  and  obtained  a  pamphlet  to  reprint.  Franklin 
struck  off  the  requisite  number  of  copies  of  the  elegy ;  then  began 
upon  the  pamphlet,  and  thenceforth  worked  regularly  in  Keimer's 

*  Watson'a  "  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  ii.,  4S0.     Duycklnck's  "  Cyclopedifv  of  American  Literii- 
ture,"  L,  100. 


108  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1724. 

office.  His  employer  objecting  to  his  boarding  at  the  house  of  a 
rival  printer,  yet  having  no  establishment  of  his  own,  he  procured 
for  him  a  lodging  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Read,  whose  daughter  had 
seen  the  uncouth  apparition  pass,  on  that  memorable  Sunday  morn- 
ing, devouring  a  roll.  But  his  chest  had  arrived  from  New  York. 
Pic  was  able  then  to  present  himself  to  the  young  lady  in  a  cos- 
tume more  becoming. 

Weeks  passed.  He  earned  good  wages.  He  had  a  pleasant 
home.  He  found  friends  who  were  fond  of  reading,  wath  whom 
he  spent  pleasant  evenings.  Boston  he  tried  not  to  think  of,  and 
he  wrote  to  no  one  but  to  John  Collins,  who  kept  his  secret  faith- 
fully. Indeed,  the  arbitrary  conduct  of  his  brother  had  made  upon 
his  mind  an  indelible  impression,  which,  for  a  time,  rendered  the 
thought  of  Boston  unpleasing  to  him.  His  brother's  tyranny  was 
one  of  the  causes,  he  afterward  thought,  that  gave  him  his  peculiar 
and  unconquerable  aversion  to  arbitrary  power,  and  rendered  him, 
as  a  parent  and  master,  somewhat  too  indulgent.  He  was  always  a 
stickler  for  children's  rights  ;  their  right  to  be  gratified,  as  well  as 
their  right  to  be  coerced.  It  was  a  lovely  trait  in  Frankhn's  char- 
acter that  he  was  especially  careful  not  to  inflict  the  injuries  from 
which  he  himself  had  suffered ;  one  of  the  signs  of  a  noble  nature. 

At  length,  he  heard  from  home.  One  of  his  sisters  had  married 
Robert  Holmes,  captain  of  a  sloop  that  traded  between  Boston  and 
Delaware.  Captain  Holmes  being  at  ISTewcastle,  a  town  on  the 
Delaware  river,  forty  miles  below  Philadelphia,  heard  of  the  run- 
away and  wrote  to  him.  He  told  him  of  the  grief  of  his  parents  and 
friends  at  his  abrupt  departure,  and  assured  him  that  if  he  would 
return  he  should  have  no  cause  to  complain  in  future.  Benjamin 
wrote  him  a  civil  and  elaborate  reply,  in  which  he  narrated  the  cir- 
cumstances that  led  to  his  leaving  Boston.  The  narrative  con- 
vinced his  brother-in-law  that  he  was  not  so  much  in  the  wrong  as 
he  had  supposed.  The  runaway  declared  his  intention  to  remain  in 
Philadelphia. 

This  letter  had  a  decisive  effect  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  writer 
of  it.  When  Captain  Holmes  received  it,  he  chanced  to  be  in  com- 
pany with  Sir  William  Keith,  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania.  We 
may  remark,  in  passing,  that  the  captain  of  a  sea-going  sloop,  in 
those  piratical  times,  was  far  from  being  an  insignificant  person. 
Struck  with  the  composition  of  the  letter,  he  showed  it  to  the  Gov- 


AGED    18.]  THE    STRANGER   FINDS   FRIENDS.  109 

ernor,  who  read  it  with  admiration,  and  admired  it  the  more  when 
told  the  age  of  the  writer.  The  Philadelphia  printers,  he  said, 
were  wretched  ones,  which  was  true,  for  Bradford  was  both  igno- 
rant and  unskillful,  and  Keimer  was  a  compound  of  fool  and  rogue. 
But  this  young  man,  he  added,  Avas  evidently  one  of  promising 
parts,  and  ought  to  be  encouraged ;  and  if  he  would  set  up  at  Phil- 
adelphia he  should  have  all  the  public  printing.  Captain  Holmes, 
for  some  reason,  did  not  reply  to  Benjamin's  long  epistle ;  so  that 
the  young  man's  astonishment  at  what  followed  was  extreme ;  nor 
was  he  able  to  account  for  it,  until  he  met  Captain  Holmes  some 
months  after. 

Franklin  and  his  master  were  working  together,  one  day,  when 
they  spied  two  finely  dressed  gentlemen  crossing  the  street,  with 
the  evident  intention  of  entering  the  printing-house.  One  of  these 
Keimer  recognized  as  Sir  William  Keith,  and  the  other  proved  to 
be  Colonel  French,  of  Delaware.  Keimer  supposed  of  course  that  the 
visit  was  to  him,  and  ran  down-stairs  to  receive  them.  The  Gov- 
ernor, however,  inquired  for  Franklin,  and  learning  that  he  was 
in  the  printhig-office,  went  up  to  see  him.  He  greeted  the  young 
printer  with  a  degree  of  politeness  and  condescension  to  which  he 
had  not  been  accustomed  ;  paid  him  many  compliments  ;  expressed 
a  desire  to  become  acquainted  with  him  ;  blamed  him  for  not  having 
called  upon  him  on  his  arrival  at  Philadelphia,  and  ended  by  invi- 
ting him  to  a  tavern,  where  Colonel  French  and  himself  were  theij 
going  to  try  some  Madeira.  Keimer  stared  with  astonishment. 
Fi-anklin  himself  was  not  less  amazed.  However,  he  went  out 
with  them  to  the  tavern,  and  the  three  sat  down  to  discuss,  at 
once,  their  bottle  and  the  future  career  of  the  young  stranger. 

The  Governor  repeated  what  he  had  already  said  to  Captain 
Holmes.  He  proposed  that  Franklin  should  immediately,  by  the 
aid  of  his  father,  establish  himself  in  business  as  a  printer  in  Phil- 
adelphia, and  enlarged  upon  the  probabilities  of  his  success.  Both 
the  Governor  and  Colonel  French  engaged  to  use  all  their  influence  to 
procure  for  him  the  public  printing  of  Pennsylvania  and  Delaware, 
which  was  then  considerable.  The  young  man  replied,  that  he 
doubted  whether  his  father  would  advance  him  the  requisite  sum. 
Sir  William  said,  that  he  would  himself  write  a  letter  to  his  father, 
sotting  forth  the  advantages  of  the  scheme,  and  he  felt  sure  he 
could  induce  him  to  comply.     Before  they  rose  from  their  wine  it 


110  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1724. 

had  been  concluded,  tliat  Franklin  should  return  to  Boston  by  the 
first  vessel,  taking  with  him  the  Governor's  letter,  and  endeavor  to 
bring  over  his  father  to  their  plans.  In  the  mean  time  the  scheme 
was  to  be  kept  secret,  and  he  v/as  to  go  on  working  for  the  uncon- 
scious Keimer  as  before.  The  party  broke  up.  The  Governor 
sent  now  and  then  for  his  protege  to  dine  at  his  house,  and  on 
those  occasions  conversed  with  him  in  the  most  agreeable,  friendly, 
and  familiar  manner ;  which  the  young  printer  considered  a  great 
honor. 

Perhaps,  the  reader  should  be  reminded,  that  for  a  century  or 
more  after  the  invention  of  printing,  printers  ranked  above  mechan- 
ics in  the  social  scale.  Printing  was  originally  regarded  as  a  kind 
of  sacred  art,  partly  because  it  was  almost  exclusively  employed  in 
the  multiplication  of  sacred  books.  Several  of  the  early  printers, 
too,  were  scholars.  It  was  long  before  the  art  was  so  far  perfected 
as  to  he  mechanical,  and  still  longer  before  it  was  thought  so.  As 
late  as  Franklin's  day,  printers  were  expected  to  be  men  of  con- 
siderable education,  and  iisually  were  such.  The  printer's  art  was 
looked  upon  by  the  uneducated  as  something  wonderful  and  mys- 
terious, as  telegraphing  now  is  by  those  who  seldom  see  its  opera- 
tions. Thus  one  of  the  rhyming  eulogists  of  Aquila  Rose  describes 
him  at  work,  in  these  lines : 

"  His  novel  skill  spectators  thronging  drew, 
Who  haste  the  swift  compositor  to  view ; 
Not  men  alone,  but  maids  of  softer  air 
And  nicer  fancies  to  the  room  repair. 
Pleased  with  such  mild  impediments,  he  frame3. 
As  they  request,  their  dear  enchanting  names. 
To  grace  a  book  or  feast  a  lover's  eye, 
Or  tell  companions  of  their  fancied  joy." 

In  Keimer's  Elegy  we  read  of  the  lamented  Rose,  that 

"  Of  different  learned  tongues  he  somewhat  knew, 
The  French,  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  too." 

Consider,  also,  the  fimeral  of  Aquila  Rose  as  described  by  the 
rhyming  Keimer :  his  body  borne  to  the  grave  by  "master-prin- 


I 


AGED    18.]  THE   STRANGER    FINDS    FRIENDS.  Ill 

ters;"   the  widow   conducted  by   "a  worthy  merchant;"  "both 
mounted  on  a  stately  steed." 

"  His  Corps  attended  was  by  Friends  so  soon 
From  Seven  at  Morn,  till  One  a-clock  at  jN'oon, 
By  Master-Printers  carried  towards  his  Grave, 
Our  City  Printer  such  an  Honour  gave. 
A  Worthy  Merchant  did  the  Widow  lead, 
And  then  both  mounted  on  a  stately  steed ; 
Next  Preachers^  Common  Council^  Aldermen, 
A  Judge  and  Sheriff  grac'd  the  solemn  Train, 
Nor  fail'd  our  Treasurer,  in  respect  to  come, 
Nor  staid  the  Keeper  of  the  ROLLS  at  home. 
Our  aged  Post  Master  here  now  appears, 
Who  had  not  walked  so  far  for  twice  Twelve  Years. 
With  Merchants,  Shopkeepers,  the  Young  and  Old, 
A  numerous  Throng,  not  very  easy  told. 
The  Keeper  of  the  SEAL  did  on  Him  wait, 
Thus  was  he  carry'd  like  a  King,  in  State, 
And  what  still  adds  a  further  Lustre  to't, 
Some  rode  well  mounted,  others  walked  afoot. 
Church-Folks,  Dissenters,  here  with  one  Accord, 
Their  kind  Attendance  readily  afford. 
To  shew  their  Love,  each  differing  Sect  agree 
To  grace  his  Fun'ral  with  their  Company, 
And  what  was  yet  more  grateful.  People  cry'd 
Beloved  he  liv'd^  See  how  belov'd  he  d%fdP 

Aquila  Rose,  too,  was  clerk  to  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania, 
while  still  a  journeyman  printer.  He  was  the  worthy  predecessor 
of  Franklin  in  the  province. 

Observe,  also,  that  as  late  as  the  revolutionary  war,  there  was  no 
,  distinction  between  editor  and  printer  in  the  colonies.  There  were 
no  editors  v/ho  were  not  printers ;  and  no  such  thing  known  as 
paying  for  editorial  labor.  Contributors,  too,  addressed  "  Mr.  Prin- 
ter," not  Mr.  Editor.  Perhaps  Thomas  Paine  was  the  first  man  in 
America  who  was  paid  for  labor  merely  editorial. 

Toward  the  end  of  April,  1724,  a  small  vessel  offering  for  Boston, 
Fr  mklin  took  passage  in  her,  giving  out  that  he  was  going  home  for 


112  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMII^-   FEANKLIN^.  [l'724. 

a  time  to  see  his  friends.  The  Governor  gave  him  a  long  letter  to 
his  father,  in  which  the  young  man  was  highly  extolled,  and  which 
declared  that  he  had  but  to  set  up  a  printing  office  in  Philadelphia, 
to  make  his  fortune.  After  a  tempestuous  voyage  of  two  weeks, 
during  which  passengers  and  crew  were  at  the  pump  almost  contin- 
ually, he  arrived  safely  in  Boston,  having  been  absent  from  home 
seven  months.  Captain  Holmes  had  not  yet  arrived,  nor  had  tidings 
of  the  runaway  been  received  at  Boston  from  any  other  source. 
His  return  was,  therefore,  a  surprise  to  all  his  relations,  and  to  all 
but  his  brother  James  a  joyful  one. 

He  went  round  to  his  brother's  printing  house  dressed  and  equip- 
ped far  better  than  he  had  ever  been  while  in  his  service.  His 
clothes  were  new  and  handsome ;  he  was  the  possessor  of  a  watch ; 
he  had  in  his  pocket  nearly  five  pounds  sterling  in  silver.  Perhaps 
his  success  in  Philadelphia,  of  which  these  were  the  visible  proofs, 
gave  to  his  manner  an  elation  that  was  offensive  to  his  brother. 
James  Franklin  received  the  injured  youth  coldly,  eyed  him  from 
head  to  foot,  and  turned  to  his  work  again.  The  journeymen,  how- 
ever, gathered  round  their  former  companion,  plying  him  with  ques- 
tions about  Philadelphia,  and  how  he  liked  it.  He  praised  his  new 
country  warmly,  described  the  happy  life  he  had  led  there,  and  de- 
clared his  intention  of  returning  thither.  One  of  the  men  chanced 
to  ask  him  what  kind  of  money  they  had  in  Pennsylvania.  Frank- 
lin immediately  drew  from  his  pocket  a  handful  of  silver  coin, 
much  to  the  amazement  of  the  group;  for  Massachusetts,  gen- 
erous and  patriotic  then,  as  now  and  ever,  had  spent  vast  sums 
in  expeditions  against  Canada,  and  had  long  suffered  the  consequent 
evils  of  profuse  and  depreciated  paper  money.  The  vain-glorious 
youth,  nettled,  too,  by  seeing  his  brother  still  stand  apart,  grim 
and  sullen,  made  an  opportunity  of  exhibiting  his  watch ;  and,  as 
he  took  his  leave,  gave  the  men  a  dollar  for  drink.  His  brother 
was  deeply  offended  at  his  conduct  on  this  occasion;  and  their 
mother  tried  in  vain  to  reconcile  them.  The  elder  told  her  that  he 
had  never  been  so  insulted  before,  and  that  he  would  neither  forgive 
nor  forget  it. 

James  Franklin,  it  is  but  just  to  his  memory  to  state,  was  then 
struggling  with  difficulties.  He  could  not  hope  to  prosper  in  Boston 
after  what  had  occurred  to  exasperate  the  largest  and  the  wealthiest 
portion  of  the  people.      The  New  England  Gouran%  which  began 


AGED    18.]  THE    STEANGER   FINDS    FRIENDS.  113 

to  flag  when  it  lost  Benjamin  Franklin's  lively  pen,  lingered  two  or 
three  years  after  he  left  it,  and  then  went  the  way  that  all  news- 
papers go  which  do  not,  upon  the  whole,  express  the  feeling  of  the 
community  that  supports  them.  James  Franklin  removed  to  New- 
port, and  started  there  the  first  newspaper  that  appeared  in  Rhode 
Island.     He  is  the  father  of  the  Rhode  Island  press. 

Benjamin's  old  friend,  Collins,  who  was  then  a  clerk  in  the  post- 
office,  was  so  pleased  with  Franklin's  description  of  Pennsylvania, 
that  he  determined  to  remove  thither.  He  set  out  by  land  forthwith, 
leaving  his  books  to  be  brought  round  by  sea  to  New  York,  where 
he  agreed  to  wait  for  Franklin.  Clerk  in  the  post-office  !  Another 
evidence  of  the  early  intellectuality  of  New  England.  Thirty-three 
years  later,  when  Franklin  was  in  New  York,  he  wrote:  "Mr. 
C  olden  (postmaster)  could  not  spare  his  daughter,  as  she  helps  him 
in  the  post-office,  he  having  no  clerk."* 

Meanwhile,  wary  and  sagacious  Josiah  Franklin  was  considering 
the  proposition  contained:  in  the  letter  of  Sir  WilHam  Keith.  For 
some  time,  he  said  little  of  it  to  his  son.  Captain  Holmes  arriving 
from  Delaware,  the  old  gentleman  showed  him  the  letter,  asked  him 
if  he  knew  what  kind  of  man  Sir  William  Keith  was,  adding  that, 
for  his  own  part,  he  thought  the  Governor  must  be  a  man  of  little 
discretion,  to  think  of  setting  up  in  business  for  himself  a  lad  of 
eighteen.  Captain  Holmes  espoused  the  cause  of  his  brother-in-law, 
and  said  all  he  could  in  favor  of  the  project.  The  result,  however, 
of  the  old  man's  cogitations  was  a  flat  refusal  to  advance  the  neces- 
sary sum.  Benjamin  was  too  young,  he  said.  He  was  glad  his 
son  had  been  so  highly  approved  by  the  Governor  of  the  colony 
in  which  he  had  lived,  and  that  he  had  been  so  industrious  and  so 
prudent  as  to  provide  for  himself  so  handsomely  in  so  short  a  time. 
He  gave  his  consent  to  the  youth's  returning  to  Philadelphia,  and 
promised  that  if,  by  the  time  he  was  twenty-one,  he  had  saved 
nearly  enough  to  set  himself  up  in  business,  he  would  help  him  out 
with  the  rest.  To  this  promise,  he  added  some  good  advice.  He 
urged  him  to  behave  respectfully  to  the  people  of  Philadelphia,  to 
endeavor  to  stand  well  with  them,  and  to  repress  his  fondness  for 
lampooning  and  satire.  To  Sir  William  Keith  the  prudent  father 
wrote  a  polite  letter,  thanking  him  for  the  interest  he  had  taken  in 

'^  Sparks,  vii.,  185. 


114  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BEISTJAMTN   FRANKLIN.  [l724. 

his  son,  and  giving  his  reasons  for  declining,  at  present,  to  assist  the 
youth  in  the  ma,nner  proposed. 

One  pleasing  incident  of  this  visit  home,  was  related  by  Franklin, 
sixty  years  after,  in  a  letter  to  the  son  of  Cotton  Mather.  "  The 
last  time  I  saw  your  father,"  he  wrote,  "  was  in  the  beginning  of 
1724,  when  I  visited  him,  after  my  first  trip  to  Pennsylvania.  He 
received  me  in  his  library,  and  on  my  taking  leave,  showed  me  a 
shorter  way  out  of  the  house,  through  a  narrow  passage,  which 
was  crossed  by  a  beam  overhead.  We  were  still  talking  as  I  Avith- 
drew,  he  accompanying  me  behind,  and  I,  turning  partly  toward 
him,  when  he  said,  hastily,  /Stoop,  stoop/  I  did  not  understand 
liim  till  I  felt  my  head  hit  against  the  beam.  He  was  a  man  that 
never  missed  any  occasion  of  giving  instruction,  and  upon  this  he 
said  to  me.  You  are  young,  and  have  the  world  hefore  you  ;  stoop 
as  you  go  through  it,  and  you  vnll  miss  ma^iy  hard  thumps.  This 
advice,  thus  beat  into  my  liead,  has  frequently  been  of  use  to  me ; 
and  I  often  think  of  it  when  I  see  pride  mortified,  and  misfortunes 
brought  upon  people,  by  their  carrying  their  heads  too  high."* 

With  the  blessing  and  approbation  of  his  parents,  and  some 
small  gifts,  as  tokens  of  their  affection,  he  left  his  native  place  a 
second  time.  The  sloop  in  which  he  sailed  touched  at  Newport, 
where  then  lived  his  brother  John,  who  had  been  his  shop-mate, 
while  he  had  helped  his  father  at  candle-making,  six  or  seven  years 
before.  His  brother,  who  had  always  loved  him,  received  him 
very  aftectionately ;  yet  this  stay  at  Newport  had  unpleasant  con- 
sequences. A  Mr.  Yernon,  a  friend  of  his  brother  John,  who  had 
seven  or  eight  pounds  sterling  due  to  him  in  Pennsylvania,  gave  the 
young  man  an  order  to  receive  the  money,  requesting  him  to  keep 
it,  till  he  should  receive  directions  from  Newport  what  to  do  with 
it.  Benjamin  undertook  the  trust,  not  doubting  his  ability  to  dis- 
charge it. 

Among  the  passengers  who  were  taken  on  board  the  sloop  at 
Newport,  were  two  showy  young  women,  traveling  together,  and 
a  matronly  Quaker  lady,  with  her  servants.  Our  comely  and  spir- 
ited young  printer,  always  fond  of  the  society  of  ladies,  was  not 
slow  in  becoming  intimate  with  these  girls ;  who,  on  their  part, 
were  far  from  discouraging  his  attentions.     To  the  Quaker  lady, 

*  "  Franklin  to  Samuel  Mather,"  IT&i.    Sparks,  s.,  88. 


AGED  18.]  THE   STRAXGEE   FIIs^DS   FRIENDS.  llo 

also,  he  rendered  some  little  services,  with  his  usual  obligingness. 
She  saw,  with  pain,  his  growing  familiarity  with  the  two  women, 
and,  one  day,  took  him  aside,  and  addressed  him  thus :  "Young 
man,  I  am  concerned  for  thee,  as  thou  hast  no  friend  with  thee,  and. 
seemest  not  to  know  much  of  the  world,  or  of  the  snares  youth 
is  exposed  to  :  depend  upon  it,  these  are  very  bad.  women.  I  can 
see  it  by  all  their  actions ;  and  if  thou  art  not  upon  thy  guard, 
they  will  draw  thee  into  some  danger :  they  are  strangers  to  thee, 
and  I  advise  thee,  in  a  friendly  concern  for  thy  welfare,  to  have  no 
acquaintance  with  them." 

He  was  incredulous.  She  proceeded,  to  mention  some  circum- 
stances which  had  escaped  his  notice,  and  convinced  him,  at  length, 
that  they  were  girls  of  b;id  character.  He  thanked  her  for  her 
motherly  advice,  and  promised  to  follow  it.  On  reaching  New 
York,  they  told  him  where  they  lived,  and  invited  him  to  visit 
them.  He  kept  his  word,  however,  and  avoided  their  house.  The 
day  after,  the  captain  of  the  sloop  missed  a  silver  spoon  (then  rarely 
seen,  and  highly  prized),  as  well  as  some  other  articles,  from  the 
cabin.  The  theft  was  brought  home  to  the  girls,  who  were  arrested 
and  punished  for  it — probably  whipped  in  the  market-place. 

This  anecdote  has  a  certain  importance,  inasmuch  as  it  tends  to 
Si'iow  that,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  Benjamin  Franklin,  despite  his 
deism,  was  still  chaste.  Usually,  at  that  early  day,  a  young  man, 
who  discovered  some  flaws  in  his  father's  creed,  broke  away,  for  a 
time,  from  the  moral  resti'aints  which  gave  to  that  creed  its  value. 
Exulting  in  his  new-found  negatives,  the  foolish  youth  strove  to 
differ,  in  every  respect,  from  his  elders,  whose  narrowness  and  big- 
try  made  virtue  itself  disgusting.  And  this  is  another  and  inva- 
iable  effect  of  perverting  religion  into  orthodoxy :  it  renders  virtue 
dious,  and  vice  captivating.  It  causes  virtue  to  seem  the  exclusive 
roperty  of  dismal  cowards,  and  makes  vice  appear  synonymous 
with  courage,  wit,  and  spirit.  Franklin,  with  all  his  great  under- 
standing and  good  heart,  was  not  able  long  to  preserve  that  in- 
conceivably precious  treasure  of  man  and  woman,  as  precious  to 
man  as  to  woman,  sexual  integrity.  But  we  are  permitted  to  infer 
that  at  eighteen  he  was  still  virtuous. 

Not  so  his  friend  Collins,  whom  he  found  at  New  York  awaiting 
his  arrival.  These  two  young  men  had  been  intimate  from  child- 
hood.    They  had  read  the  same  books  together.     Collins  bad  had 


]16  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FEANKLIN.  [l724. 

more  time  for  study  than  his  friend,  and  possessed  also  a  remark- 
able talent  for  mathematics ;  one  of  the  surest  signs,  as  Mr.  Carlyle 
thinks,  of  a  superior  understanding.     During  the  apprenticeship  of 
Franklin,  it  was  with  Collins  that  he  spent  his  leisure  hours,  and  to  ■■ 
Collins  that  he  read  his  essays.     At  that  time  Collins  was  a  sober ' 
and  industrious  youth,  esteemed  even  by  several  of  the  clergy,  as 
w^ell  as  by  other  men  of  note,  for  his  learning*  and  talents.     But 
during  the  absence  of  Franklin  in  Philadelphia,  he  had  fallen  into 
habits  of  intemperance,  and  when  Franklin  met  him  in  New  York, . 
he  found  that  he  had  been  drunk  every  day  since  his  arrival,  had  I 
gambled  away  all  his  money,  and  had  behaved  "  in  a  very  extrava- 
gant manner."     Franklin  was  obliged  to  pay  his  expenses  in  New 
York  and  during  the  rest  of  their  journey ;  which  proved  a  sore 
calamity  to  him,  and  the  cause  of  bitter  regret  for  some  years. 

Franklin's  stay  in  New  York  on  this  occasion  was  marked  by 
one  very  agreeable  and  unexpected  incident. 

An  interest  in  books,  we  may  premise,  was  in  itself  a  bond  of 
union  between  the  early  colonists.  Books  were  extremely  expen- 
sive ;  public  libraries  were  unknown ;  private  collections  were  few 
and  small ;  and  the  lovers  of  literature,  other  than  divinity,  were  not 
numerous.  Women,  who  are  now  the  chief  support  of  whole  de- 
partments of  literature,  read  little  in  those  days,  and  that  little  was 
seldom  literature.  To  be  a  reader  of  books  or  to  possess  a  collec- 
tion of  fifty  volumes  was  a  distinction  in  the  colonies  when  Frank- 
lin was  a  young  man.  The  bookish  people  formed  a  kind  of  free- 
mason-like society,  who  recognized  one  another,  regardless  in  some 
degree  of  the  circumstances  which  usually  divided  men  into  ranks 
and  classes.  And  scholarship,  we  may  add,  was  deeply  honored  in  i 
the  colonies,  from  the  earliest  period  of  their  existence. 

The  Governor  of  New  York,  in  1724,  was  that  witty,  genial,, 
testy,  downright  William  Burnet  (son  of  the  famous  bishop  of 
that  name),  who  was  wont  to  "  act  first  and  think  afterv/ards,"  as 
he  himself  confessed,  and  therefore  wasted  his  life  and  fine  abilities 
in  an  endless  jangle  with  the  colonial  magnates.  He  had  one  of  the 
very  few  good  libraries  in  the  new  world,  and  was  extremely  fond 
of  books  and  of  men  who  loved  them.  Learning,  from  the  captain 
of  the  sloop,  that  one  of  his  passengers  from  Boston  had  a  great 
many  books  on  board.  Governor  Burnet  asked  the  captain  to 
bring  young  Franklin  to  him.     "I  waited  on  him,"  Franklin  too 


AGED  18.]  THE    STRANGER   FINDS    FRIENDS.  Ill 

briefly  records,  "  and  should  have  taken  Collins  with  me  had  he 
been  sober.  The  Governor  received  me  with  great  civility,  showed 
nie  his  library,  which  was  a  considerable  one,  and  we  had  a  good 
deal  of  conversation  relative  to  books  and  authors.  This  was  the 
second  governor  who  had  done  me  the  honor  to  take  notice  of  me: 
and,  for  a  poor  boy  like  me,  was  very  pleasing." 

Resuming  their  journey,  the  two  young  men  proceeded  together 
to  Philadelphia.  On  the  way,  Franklin  received  the  money  due  to 
Mr.  Vernon  of  Newport ;  and  such  had  been  the  extravagance  of 
Collins,  that  he  was  obliged  to  spend  part  of  the  sum  for  the  travel- 
ing expenses  of  himself  and  his  drunken  companion. 

Fifty-six  years  after,  he  related  to  Dr.  Priestley  an  anecdote  of  his 
descending  the  Delaware  at  this  time.  He  told  the  story  to  illus- 
trate the  truth,  that  all  situations  in  life  have  their  inconveniences, 
and  that  while  men  feel  acutely  the  evils  of  their  present  lot,  they 
neither  feel  nor  know  the  evils  of  that  for  which  they  long.  "  In 
ray  youth,"  said  the  aged  philosopher,  "  I  was  passenger  in  a  little 
sloop  descending  the  river  Delaware.  There  being  no  wind,  we 
were  obhged,  when  the  ebb  was  spent,  to  cast  anchor  and  wait  for 
the  next.  The  heat  of  the  sun  on  the  vessel  was  excessive,  the 
company  strangers  to  me,  and  not  very  agreeable.  Near  the  river 
side  I  saw  what  I  took  to  be  a  pleasant  green  meadow,  in  the  mid- 
dle of  which  was  a  large  shady  tree,  where,  it  struck  my  fancy,  I 
could  sit  and  read  (having  a  book  in  my  pocket),  and  pass  the  time 
agreeably  till  the  tide  turned ;  I  therefore  prevailed  with  the  cap- 
tain to  put  me  ashore.  Being  landed,  I  found  the  greatest  part  of 
my  meadow  was  really  a  marsh,  in  crossing  which,  to  come  at  my 
tree,  I  was  up  to  my  knees  in  mire :  and  I  had  not  placed  myself 
under  its  shade  five  minutes  before  the  mosquitoes  in  swarms  found 
me  out,  attacked  my  legs,  hands,  and  face,  and  made  my  reading 
and  my  rest  impossible ;  so  that  I  returned  to  the  beach,  and  called 
for  the  boat  to  come  and  take  me  on  board  again,  where  I  was 
obliged  to  bear  the  heat  I  had  strove  to  quit,  and  also  the  laugh  of 
the  company.  Similar  cases  in  the  affairs  of  life  have  since  fre- 
quently fallen  under  my  observation."* 

Sir  William  Keith,  on  reading  the  letter  of  Franklin's  father,  wa? 
not  in  the  least  disposed  to  give  up  the  scheme  of  establishing  his 

*  Frauklin  to  Dr.  Priestley,  1780.    Sparks,  viii.,  419. 


118  LIFE  a:>jd  times  of  benjamin  feanklin.  [1724. 

protege.  "Your  father/'  said  he,  "is  too  prudent.  There  is  a 
great  diiference  in  persons.  Discretion  does  not  always  accompany 
years,  nor  is  youth  always  without  it.  But  since  he  will  not  set 
you  up,  I  will  do  it  myself.  Give  me  an  inventory  of  the  things 
necessary  to  be  had  from  England,  and  I  will  send  for  them.  You 
shall  repay  me  when  you  are  able ;  I  am  resolved  to  have  a  good 
printer  here,  and  I  am  sure  you  must  succeed."  Enchanted  with 
this  offer,  and  believing  Sir  William  Keith  to  be  "  one  of  the  best 
men  in  the  world,"  the  young  man  hastened  to  draw  up  a  list  of  the 
articles  required,  amounting  to  about  a  hundred  pounds.  On  re- 
ceiving the  inventory,  the  Governor  asked  whether  it  would  not  be 
an  advantage  for  the  young  printer  to  go  to  England  and  select  the 
materials  himself.  "  Besides,"  said  the  Governor,  "  when  there,  you 
may  make  acquaintances  and  establish  correspondence  with  book- 
sellers and  stationers."  The  elated  youth  agreed  that  this  7/iight 
be  advantageous.  "Then,"  said  the  Governor,  "get  yourself 
ready  to  go  with  Annis,"  the  captain  of  the  single  ship  that  then 
plied  regularly  between  London  and  Philadelphia,  sailing  from  each 
port  once  a  year. 

Some  months  elapsed  before  the  ship  sailed,  during  which  Frank- 
lin worked  for  the  eccentric  Keimer,  and  kept  secret  all  that  had  i 
passed  between  himself  and  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania.  Hence, , 
no  one  told  him  what  a  vain,  false,  gasconading,  popularity-hunter  i 
this  Sir  WiUiam  Keith  was.*  Relying  implicitly  upon  his  prom- 
ises, Franklin  spent  many  months  of  happy  anticipation. 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE   PERFIDY    OF   SIR   WILLIAM   KEITH. 

One  of  the  most  joyous  half-years  of  Franklin's  life  was  thatt 
which  passed  while  he  was  waiting  for  the  departure  of  the  annual 
ship.     Youth,  hoj^e,  prosperity,  congenial  friends,  and  reciprocated 

*  "  Sir  William  Keith  appears  manifestly,  not  only  in  his  administration,  but  also  in  his  gen- 
eral conduct,  to  have  been  a  great  solicitor  of  popularity,  and  ho  both  possessed  and  practiced 
those  arts  which  seldom  fail  to  please  the  populace."— Proud's  History  of  Pennsylvania  11, 177. 


AGED  18.]  THE    PERFIDY    OF    SIR   WILLIAM    KEITH.  119 

love,  combined  to  render  his  working  days  serene,  and  Ms  holidays 
memorably  happy.  The  gayety  that  afterwards  charmed  the  society 
of  three  capitals,  and  enlivened  the  literature  of  two  countries, 
made  him,  at  this  period,  the  chief  of  a  set  of  merry  blades,  whose 
Sunday  excursions  rendered  vocal  the  forests  that  then  overhung 
the  enchanting  Schuylkill. 

Nevertheless,  such  is  human  life,  even  this  happy  time  had  its 
:  anguish  and  its  bitterness.  John  Collins,  for  some  weeks  after  he 
had  reached  Philadelphia,  was  the  plague  and  shame  of  Franklin's 
life.  He  had  become  the  helpless  and  unresisting  slave  of  his  ap- 
petite for  drink.  Besides  living  at  Franklin's  own  lodgings  and  at 
his  expense,  he  kept  borrowing  money  from  him,  promising  to  re- 
pay it  as  soon  as  he  should  get  employment.  But  he  could  not 
get  employment.  Franklin  saw  with  dismay  the  money  of  Mr. 
Vernon  vanishing  before  the  importunities  of  his  thirsty  friend, 
until  so  much  of  it  was  gone  that  he  lived  in  dread  of  its  being 
called  for  before  he  could  earn  enough  to  replace  it.  In  his  cups 
Collins  was  very  irritable.  Franklin,  too,  was  tormented  with  re- 
morse and  dread  by  the  violation  of  his  trust.  His  indignant  re- 
monstrances with  Collins  provoked  angry  replies  from  the  young 
drunkard,  and  quarrels  occurred  between  them. 

The  breaking  in  upon  Vernon's  money,  Franklin  deliberately 
pronounced  the  fii*st  great  error  of  his  life,  and  one  which  proved 
his  father  correct  in  deciding  that  he  was  too  young  to  conduct 
business.  It  chanced  that  the  money  was  not  required  till  Frank- 
lin was  able  to  pay  it ;  yet  he  was  long  in  terror  of  its  being  called 
for,  and,  still  longer,  carried  about  in  his  breast  the  dull  pang  of 
self-reproach. 

His  old  friendship  for  John  Collins  was  worn  out  at  last.  Frank- 
lin, Collins,  and  a  party  of  Philadelphia  lads  were  in  a  boat  on  the 
Delaware,  one  day,  when  Collins  refused  to  take  his  turn  at  the- 
oar,  saying  that  he  meant  to  be  rowed  home.  "  Yf  e  will  not  row 
you,"  TDaid  Franklin.  "You  must,"  replied  Collins,  "or  stay  all 
night  on  the  water."  The  others  said,  "  Let  us  row,  what  does  it 
signify  ?"  But  Franklin,  embittered  against  him  by  his  previous 
misconduct,  persisted  in  refusing.  Collins  swore  he  would  make 
him  row  or  throw  him  overboard,  and  went  toward  him,  stepping 
on  the  seats  of  the  boat,  to  execute  his  threat.  On  getting  near 
enough,  the  maddened  youth  struck  at  his  old  friend.     But  Frank- 


120  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l'724. 

lin  was  too  quick  for  him.  "  I  clapped  my  head  under  his  thighs," 
he  tells  us,  "  and  rising,  pitched  him  head  foremost  into  the  river." 
Knowing  Collins  to  be  a  good  swimmer,  he  gave  himself  no  con- 
cern for  his  safety.  On  the  contrary,  when  Collins  had  turned,  and 
was  about  to  catch  hold  of  the  boat,  they  pulled  it  beyond  his  reach, 
asking  him  whether  he  would  do  his  share  of  rowing,  a  maneuver 
that  was  several  times  repeated.  Choking  with  rage,  he  would  not 
promise  to  row,  and  persisted  so  long  that  he  began  to  tire  ;  when 
his  companions  relented,  drew  him  in,  and  brought  him  home  drip- 
ping wet.  After  this  event  the  two  Bostonians  scarcely  exchanged 
a  civil  word.  Collins,  at  length,  accepted  the  oifer  of  a  tutorship  at 
Barbadoes,  and  left  Philadelphia  for  that  island,  promising  Frank- 
lin to  remit  what  he  owed  him  out  of  his  first  quarter's  salary.  He 
was  never  heard  of  in  the  colonies  again. 

The  eccentricities  of  Samuel  Keimer  were  a  source  of  amusement 
to  Franklin,  as  long  as  they  were  novel.  Keimer  had  formerly  be- 
longed to  a  sect  of  religious  enthusiasts^  whose  antics  he  could  still 
perform;  but,  at  this  time,  his  religion  was  reduced  to  these  two  arti- 
cles :  to  wear  the  beard  long,  and  to  keep  Saturday  instead  of  Sunday. 
These  were  essential  with  him ;  but,  upon  occasion,  he  could  affect 
the  usages  and  tone  of  any  sect.  As  the  man  was  a  fool  more  than 
he  was  a  rogue,  his  hypocrisy  was  so  transparent  as  to  deceive  no 
one.  The  records  of  the  Friends'  Monthly  Meeting  of  Philadelphia, 
for  the  very  year  of  Franklin's  arrival,  contain  a  proof  of  this,  in  an 
entry  which  sets  forth,  that  one  Samuel  Keimer,  printer,  lately  come 
to  the  city,  had  printed  divers  papers,  particularly  one  styled  the 
Parable,  in  which  he  had  used  the  style  and  language  of  Friends  ; 
wherefore,  the  Monthly  Meeting  certified  that  he  was  not  of  their 
persuasion,  nor  countenanced  by  them.*  Keimer,  nevertheless, 
continued  to  call  the  months  by  their  numbers  instead  of  their 
names,  as  long  as  he  lived  in  Philadelphia. 

Having  no  suspicion  of  the  designs  of  his  journeyman,  Keimer 
lived  on  terms  of  familiarity  with  him,  and  conceived  a  high  opinion 
of  his  talents.  Franklin  was  still  fond  of  practicing  the  Socratic 
trick  of  argumentation ;  and  Keimer  being  also  of  a  disputatious 
turn,  it  was  inevitable  that  the  two  should  often  argue  together. 
Poor  Keimer  would  have  been  no  match  for  Franklin  in  any  kind 

*  Wflt6on''8  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  1.,  557. 


AGED  18.]  THE    PERFIDY    OF    SIR   WILLIAM   KEITH.  121 

of  contest ;  but  to  the  Socratic  method  he  fell  an  easy  prey  indeed. 
"  I  used  to  work  him  so  with  my  Socratic  method,"  says  Franklin, 
"  and  had  trepanned  him  so  often  by  questions  apparently  distant 
from  any  point  we  had  yet  in  hand,  yet  by  degrees  leading  to  the 
point,  and  bringing  him  into  difficulties  and  contradictions,  that  at 
last  he  grew  ridiculously  cautious,  and  would  hardly  answer  me 
the  most  common  question  without  asking  first,  '  What  do  you  in- 
tend to  infer  from  that  ?' " 

Like  many  other  semi-rogues,  Keimer  had  a  project  of  forming  a 
new  religious  sect ;  and,  perceiving  Franklin's  talent  for  argument, 
he  invited  him  to  be  his  colleague.  The  master  was  to  expound 
the  doctrines,  and  the  man  to  confound  objectors.  Franklin  affected 
to  entertain  the  proposition  seriously;  and,  at  length,  agreed  to 
accept  Keimer's  doctrines  respecting  the  wearing  of  the  beard  and 
the  observance  of  Saturday,  provided  Keimer  would  practice 
Franklin's  old  system  of  abstaining  from  animal  food.  Keimer, 
who  was  a  great  eater,  thought  his  constitution  would  not  bear  the 
change,  but  agreed  to  try  it,  provided  Franklin  would  keep  him 
company.  Franklin,  besides  being  indifferent  as  to  the  kind  of  food 
he  ate,  wished  to  economize,  and  was  not  indisposed  to  enjoy  the 
sufferings  of  a  flesh-loving  prophet.  He  consented.  A  woman  of 
the  neighborhood  was  employed  to  cook  and  bring  to  Keimer's 
house  the  vegetarian  viands,  forty  varieties  of  which  Franklin 
taught  her  to  prepare.  They  reduced  the  cost  of  their  food  to 
eighteen  pence  a  week  each.  The  abstinence  from  flesh  cost 
Franklin  no  self-denial.  He  says,  that  several  times  in  the  course 
of  his  life,  he  changed  abruptly  from  the  ordinary  to  a  vegetable 
diet  and  back  again,  "  without  the  least  inconvenience ;"  a  proof 
of  the  soundness  of  his  digestion.  But  Keimer  suffered  grievously, 
ever  longing  for  the  flesh-pots  of  Egypt.  At  the  end  of  three 
months  he  gave  it  up,  ordered  a  roast  pig,  and  invited  Franklin 
and  two  female  friends  to  dine  with  him.  The  pig  was  brought 
too  50on  upon  the  table,  and  Keimer,  powerless  to  resist  the  sa- 
vory temptation,  devoured  the  whole  pig  before  either  of  his 
guests  arrived.     Nothing  more  was  said  of  the  proposed  new  sect. 

A  friendly  and  genial  soul  like  Franklin  cannot  be  long  in  a  place 
without  finding  companions.  His  intimates,  at  this  period,  were 
three  young  men  of  his  own  rank  and  condition,  dissimilar  in  char- 
acter, but  bound  together  by  a  common  love  of  books.  Charles 
6 


122  LIFE   AND   TmES  OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1724. 

Osborne  and  Joseph  Watson  were  clerks  to  a  conveyancer,  and 
James  Ralph  was  clerk  to  a  merchant.  "  Watson,"  says  Franklin, 
"was  a  pious,  sensible  young  man  of  great  integrity."  But  the 
others,  he  adds,  were  lax  in  their  principles,  particularly  Ralph,  to 
whom  Franklin  had  imparted  his  own  deistical  opinions.  Osborne 
had  good  sense  and  sincerity,  was  friendly  and  affectionate,  but,  in 
literary  matters,  exceedingly  critical.  Osborne,  Ralph,  and  Frank- 
lin were  all  fond  of  poetry,  and  were  in  the  habit  of  producing  little 
pieces  for  the  amusement  of  the  circle.  "  Many  pleasant  walks," 
says  Franklin,  "  we  had  together  on  Sundays,  on  the  banks  of  the 
Schuylkill,  where  we  read  to  one  another,  and  conferred  on  what 
we  had  read." 

It  was  the  age  of  verse  making.  Dryden,  who  hved  till  the  year 
1700,  was  an  illustrious  name.  His  errors  were  forgotten,  but  his 
fame  was  recent,  and  most  stimulating  to  young  ambition.  Pope, 
then  but  thirty-six,  had  written  his  best  works,  and  had  reached 
the  hight  of  his  celebrity.  His  prodigious  renown,  and  the  seem- 
ing easiness  of  his  method,  made  every  young  fellow  of  spirit  and 
talent  a  versifier,  and  caused  that  growth  of  inferior  poets  which 
the  great  master  of  rhyme  afterwards  mowed  down  in  the  Dun- 
ciad.* 

The  versifying  mania  had  so  powerfully  seized  James  Ralph,  a 
predestined  victim  of  Pope's  annihilating  satire,  that,  married  man 
as  he  was  and  a  father,  he  was  inclined  to  devote  his  life  to  poetry, 
believing  that  he  could  acquire  in  that  pursuit,  not  fame  only,  but 
fortune  also.  He  owned  that  his  productions  were  faulty,  but 
maintained  that  the  greatest  poets,  when  they  began  to  write,  must 
have  committed  as  great  faults  as  he  then  did.  His  friend  Osborne 
strongly  advised  him  to  discard  the  preposterous  scheme ;  and 
Franklin,  too,  though  he  approved  of  verse-making  as  an  exercise 
in  language,  agreed  with  Osborne.     Happy  had  it  been  for  poor 

*  The  follo-Nv-ing  is  an  advertisement  from  the  Boston  Weekly  Journal,  of  April  8, 1728 : 
"*^*  T/iere  is  notv  preparing  for  the  Press,  and  may  vpon  suitable  Encouragement  he  com- 
municated to  the  PiibUck,  A  Miscellany  of  Poems,  hy  several  IIand>,9,  and  upon  several  Occa- 
sions ;  some  ofichich  have  already  been  Published,  and  received  the  Approbation  of  the  best 
Judges,  loith  many  more  very  late  Performances,  of  equal  if  not  superior  Beauty,  which  have 
never  yet  seen  the  Light :  Jf  therefore  any  ingenious  Gentlemem,  are  disposed  to  contribute  to- 
wards the  erecting  a  Poetical  Monument  for  the  Ilonoxbr  of  this  Country,  either  by  their  gen- 
erous Subscriptions,  or  Composures,  they  are  desired  to  convey  them  to  Mr.  Daniel  Ilenchinan, 
or  the  Publisher  of  thit;  Paper,by  tchmn  they  sJiall  be  received  with  Candor  and  Thankfal- 


AGED  18.]  THE    PERFIDY    OF    SIR    WILLIAM   KEITH.  123 

Ralph,  if  he  had  taken  the  advice  of  his  friends ;  but  it  so  chanced, 
tliat  FrankHn's  commendation  of  writing  poetry  as  a  means  of  ac- 
quiring facility  in  the  use  of  words,  was  the  means  of  confirming 
the  young  man  in  his  infatuation. 

Franklin  tells  the  story  in  his  sprightliest  manner. 

"It  was  proposed,"  he  says,  in  his  Autobiography,  "that  we  should 
each  of  us,  at  our  next  meeting,  produce  a  piece  of  our  own  com- 
posing, in  order  to  improve  by  our  mutual  observations,  criticisms, 
and  corrections.  As  language  and  expression  were  what  we  had  in 
view,  we  excluded  all  considerations  of  invention  by  agreeing  that 
the  task  should  be  aversion  of  the  eighteenth  Psalm,  which  describes 
the  descent  of  a  deity.  When  the  time  of  our  meeting  drew  nigh, 
Ralph  called  on  me  first,  and  let  me  know  his  piece  was  ready  :  I 
told  him  I  had  been  busy,  and,  having  little  inclination,  had  done 
nothing.  He  then  showed  me  his  piece  for  my  opinion,  and  I  much 
approved  it,  as  it  appeared  to  me  to  have  great  merit.  '  i»row,'  said 
he,  '  Osborne  never  will  allow  the  least  merit  in  any  thing  of  mine, 
but  makes  a  thousand  criticisms  out  of  mere  envy :  he  is  not  so  jeal- 
ous of  you ;  I  wish,  therefore,  you  would  take  this  piece  and  produce 
it  as  yours.  I  will  pretend  not  to  have  had  time,  and  so  produce 
nothing ;  we  shall  then  hear  what  he  will  say  to  it.'  It  was  agreed, 
and  I  immediately  transcribed  it,  that  it  might  appear  in  my  own 
hand.  We  met :  Watson's  performance  was  read  ;  there  were  some 
beauties  in  it  but  many  defects.  Osborne's  was  read  ;  it  was  much 
better.  Ralph  did  it  justice,  remarked  some  faults,  but  applauded 
the  beauties.  He  himself  had  nothing  to  produce.  I  was  backward, 
seemed  desirous  of  being  excused,  had  not  had  sufficient  time  to 
correct,  &c.,  but  no  excuse  could  be  admitted  ;  produce  I  must.  It 
was  read  and  repeated :  Watson  and  Osborne  gave  up  the  contest, 
and  joined  in  applauding  it.  Ralph  only  made  some  criticisms,  and 
proposed  some  amendments ;  but  I  defended  my  text.  Osborne 
was  severe  against  Ralph,  and  told  me  he  was  no  better  able  to  crit- 
icise than  to  compose  verses.  As  these  two  Avere  returning  home, 
Osborne  expressed  himself  still  more  strongly  in  favor  of  what  he 
thought  my  production ;  having  before  refrained,  as  he  said,  lest  I 
should  think  he  meant  to  flatter  me.  '  But  who  would  have  im- 
agined,' said  he,  '  that  Franklin  was  capable  of  such  a  performance ; 
such  painting,  such  force,  such  fire  !  He  has  even  improved  on  the 
original.     In  common   conversation  he  seems  to  have  no  choice  of 


124  LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN.  [1724. 

words ;  he  hesitates  and  blunders ;  and  yet,  good  God,  how  he 
writes !' " 

The  friends  separated,  Ralph  secretly  exulting  in  his  triumph. 
When  next  they  met,  he  disclosed  the  trick — to  the  discomfiture  of 
the  critical  Osborne.  But  this  event,  trifling  as  it  was,  fixed  Ralph 
in  his  determination  to  devote  himself  to  poetry ;  with  what  results 
to  himself  and  others,  will  appear  from  time  to  time  as  we  proceed. 
The  virtuous  Watson  whom  Franklin  thought,  the  best  of  the  set, 
died  in  Franklin's  arms  a  few  years  later,  much  lamented.  Osborne 
became  an  eminent  lawyer  in  the  West  Indies,  where  he  gained  a 
fortune,  and  died  young.  Before  his  departure  for  the  West  Indies, 
he  entered  into  a  serious  agreement  with  Franklin,  that  whichever 
of  them  died  first  should,  if  possible,  appear  to  the  other  and  reveal 
the  secrets  of  the  other  world.  "  He  never  fulfilled  his  promise," 
observes  the  survivor.  In  that  age  of  eager  questioning  respecting 
the  "Unknowable,"  such  compacts  were  not  uncommon  between 
friends.  Dr.  A.  Carlyle  mentions  that,  while  he  was  a  student,  he 
was  for  some  time  in  the  habit  of  walking  in  the  fields  every  eve- 
ning for  hours,  to  meet  the  spirit  of  a  deceased  young  friend,  with 
whom  he  had  exchanged  the  same  promise.* 

During  these  months,  Franklin  formed  an  attachment  for  Miss 
Deborah  Read,  which  he  had  reason  to  think  Avas  returned.  '"At 
that  day,  the  right  of  parents  to  give  their  daughters  in  marriage, 
and  to  put  an  absolute  veto  upon  a  rising  passion,  was  not  seriously 
disputed.  A  portion  or  dowry  was  regarded  as  essential  to  an 
honorable  marriage,  even  in  the  lowlier  walks  of  life ;  and  when  that 
is  the  case,  marriage  will  partake  of  the  nature  of  a  bargain  ;  the 
contracting  parties  being  the  parents  who  have  a  son  to  advance 
and  the  parents  who  have  a  daughter  to  estabhsh.'iFrom  his  tomb- 
stone in  Christ  Church  burying-ground,  Philadelphia,  I  learn  that 
Mr.  John  Read  died  September  12th,  1724,  about  two  months  be- 
fore Franklin  sailed  for  London.  His  remains  lie  at  the  head  of  the 
tomb  of  his  daughter  and  her  husband.  It  was  therefore  to  the 
mother  of  Miss  Read  that  young  Franklin  told  his  love,  and  revealed 
the  prospect  he  had  of  being  a  master  printer.  The  prudent  lady, 
without  disapproving  the  match,  reminded  the  enamored  youth 
that  neither  himself  nor  the  young  lady  were  yet  nineteen  years  old, 

*  Autobiography  of  Dr.  A.  Carlyle,  p.  39.     See,  also,  Washington  Irving's  Life  and  Letters,  ii., 
p.  869. 


AGED    18.]  THE    PERFIDY    OF    SIR    WILLIAM    KEITH.  125 

and  that  a  marriage  then,  as  he  was  on  the  eve  of  a  long  voyage, 
and  about  to  engage  in  an  uncertain  enterprise,  would  be  unwise. 
He  was  to  wait  until  he  had  returned  and  was  established  in  busi- 
ness. Having  thus  arranged  it  with  the  mother,  he  addressed  the 
daughter.  She  avowed  her  affection  for  him,  and  they  were 
engaged. 

The  summer  passed  away ;  the  autumn  was  nearly  at  an  end,  and 
the  day  for  the  sailing  of  the  London-Hope,  Captain  Annis,  which 
had  been  several  times  postponed,  was  at  hand.  Sir  William  Keith 
had  continued  to  invite  the  young  printer  to  his  house,  when  he 
always  spoke  of  setting  him  up  in  business  as  a  settled  purpose. 
He  promised  to  give  him  letters  of  introduction  to  his  friends  in 
London,  as  well  as  the  letter  of  credit  with  which  to  buy  types, 
paper,  and  a  press.  A  day  was  even  named  when  the  young  man 
should  call  and  receive  the  letters.  At  the  time  appointed,  the 
Governor  said  he  had  not  been  able  to  get  them  ready,  and  fixed 
another  time.  Franklin  called  again,  and  received  the  same  answer. 
Again  and  again  he  called,  with  no  other  result.  At  length,  the 
vessel  was  at  the  point  of  dropping  down  the  Delaware,  and  Frank- 
lin went  to  take  leave  of  the  Governor,  expecting  confidently  to 
I'eceive  the  important  letters.  The  secretary  of  Sir  William  came 
out  to  see  him  on  this  occasion, — told  him  the  Governor  was  ex- 
tremely busy  in  writing,  but  would  meet  him  at  Newcastle,  where 
the  ship  was  to  anchor,  and  there  the  letters  should  be  delivered 
to  him. 

He  went  on  board ;  the  ship  weighed  anchor,  and  glided  down 
past  the  low  banks  of  the  broad  and  tranquil  Delaware,  the  woods 
brown  ^nd  sere  after  the  late  October  frosts.  The  young  voyager 
was  not  companionless.  James  Ralph,  giving  out  that  he  was 
going  abroad  to  establish  a  business  correspondence,  had  in  reality 
resolved  to  abandon  his  wife  and  child,  and  to  try  for  fame  and 
fortune  in  London.  This  purpose  he  did  not  impart  to  Franklin 
until  they  had  reached  England,  and  then  gave  as  excuse  for  his 
crime,  that  he  had  been  treated  ill  by  his  wife's  relatives. 

At  Newcastle,  thirty-two  miles  below  Philadelphia,  Franklin 
called  again  upon  the  Governor  for  the  letters ;  and  again  the 
secretary  appeared,  to  make  excuses.  He  said  Sir  William  Keith 
regretted  deeply  that  he  could  not  see  his  young  friend ;  but  he 
really  could  nc  t,  as  he  was  engaged  in  business  of  the  utmost  impor- 


126  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1724. 

tance.  The  letters,  however,  should  be  sent  on  board  in  time,  and 
the  Governor  heartily  wished  him  a  good  voyage  and  a  speedy 
return. 

Puzzled,  but  not  suspecting  harm,  the  young  man  returned  to 
the  ship ;  and  ere  long  a  bag  of  letters  and  dispatches  from  the 
Governor  was  brought  on  board  by  Colonel  French,  and  delivered  to 
the  captain.  Franklin  asked  for  those  that  were  directed  to  him. 
The  captain  replied,  that  all  the  letters  were  in  the  bag  together, 
and  he  was  then  too  busy  to  pick  them  out ;  but  before  the  ship 
reached  England,  Franklin  should  himself  overhaul  the  bag  and 
take  from  it  the  letters  that  belonged  to  him. 

No  one  had  yet  noticed  the  two  young  men  amid  the  mighty 
bustle  of  the  departure.  Strangers  to  all  on  board,  there  was  no 
room  found  for  them  in  the  chief  cabin,  and  they  were  obliged  to 
make  shift  with  a  berth  in  the  steerage.  It  chanced  that  a  great 
man  of  the  colony  had  taken  passage  in  the  ship,  Andrew  Hamil- 
ton, late  Attorney-General  of  Pennsylvania.  His  departure  from 
Philadelphia  was  a  great  event.  I  read  in  the  A77ierican  Weekly 
Mercury  for  November  5th,  1724  :  "  On  Monday  the  2d  of  this  In- 
stant Andrew  Hamilton,  Esq.,  our  late  Attorney  General  for  this 
Province,  set  out  from  this  Town,  in  order  to  Imbark  on  board 
Capt.  Annis  for  London,  and  was  Accompanied  so  far  as  the  Ferry, 
with  some  of  the  Chief  of  our  Town,  with  about  70  Horse."  He 
did  not  sail  in  the  ship,  however.  Induced  by  a  great  fee,  he  re- 
turned to  Philadelphia  to  conduct  a  cause,  and  went  to  London  by 
the  next  ship.  The  berths  secured  for  himself  and  his  son  were  thus 
left  vacant.  When  Colonel  French  came  on  board  he  recognized 
Franklin,  and  treated  him  with  a  great  show  of  respect,  which  in- 
duced the  passengers  to  invite  the  two  friends  to  take  the  vacant 
berths.  They  lost  no  time  in  changing  their  quarters.  On  the 
voyage  they  fared  luxuriously  upon  Mr.  Hamilton's  superabun- 
dant stores,  which  he  had  been  unable  to  remove,  and  Franklin 
found  among  the  passengers  a  most  valuable  friend.  He  was 
always  lucky,  this  Ben.  Franklin.  The  happy  results  of  the  recall 
of  Mr.  Hamilton  to  Philadelphia  upon  the  fortunes  of  the  young 
printer  were  not  exhausted  in  a  quarter  of  a  century. 

The  good  ship  London-Hope,  Annis  master,  got  to  sea  about  the 
10th  of  November.  The  passage  was  long  and  rough.  It  was 
late  in  December  before  the  ship  was  fairly  in  the  channel.     Toward 


AGED    IS.]  THE   PERFIDY    OF    SIE    WILLIAM   KEITH.  127 

the  end  of  the  passage,  Captain  Annis  gave  Franklin  an  opportu- 
nity, as  he  had  promised,  to  examine  the  contents  of  the  letter- 
bag.  He  found  six  or  seven  letters  upon  which  his  name  was  writ- 
ten, for  the  purpose  of  denoting  that  they  were  under  his  care.  As 
one  of  these  Avas  addressed  to  the  King's  prniter,  and  another  to  a 
stationer,  he  thought  they  might  be  the  letters  so  often  promised. 

The  two  friends  reached  London,  December  24th.  Franklin 
called  forthwith  upon  the  stationer  at  his  shop,  and  handing  him 
the  letter,  said  it  was  from  Governor  Keith.  "  I  don't  know  such 
a  person !"  said  the  man.  He  opened  the  letter,  however,  and 
glanced  over  it.  "Oh!"  he  cried,  "this  is  from  Riddlesden.  I 
have  lately  found  him  to  be  a  complete  rascal,  and  I  will  have 
nothing  to  do  with  him,  nor  receive  any  letters  from  him."  Hav- 
ing said  these  words,  he  put  the  letter  back  into  Franklin's  hand, 
turned  on  his  heel,  and  proceeded  to  serve  a  customer. 

The  rest  of  the  letters,  he  found,  were  not  written  by  Keith. 
Beginning  now  to  doubt  the  Governor's  sinicerity,  he  gave  a  state- 
ment of  the  whole  affair  to  Mr.  Denham,  the  friend  whom  he  had 
won  on  the  voyage.  Mr.  Denham,  who  comprehended  the  matter 
in  a  moment,  assured  him  there  was  not  the  slightest  probability 
that  Keith  had  either  written  him  any  letters,  or  had  ever  meant  to 
do  so.  No  one  who  knew  Keith,  he  added,  placed  the  least  depend- 
ence on  any  thing  he  said ;  and  as  to  the  letter  of  credit,  the  idea 
was  ridiculous,  for  he  had  no  credit  to  give.  Franklin  heard  this 
with  amazement  and  alarm,  for  he  and  Ralph  were  alone  in  the 
wilderness  of  London,  and  their  whole  stock  of  money,  all  of  which 
belonged  to  Franklin,  was  fifteen  pistoles,  equal  to  little  more  than 
ten  pounds  sterling.  Franklin  revealed  his  uneasiness  to  Mr.  Den- 
ham, who  advised  him  to  seek  employment  in  the  way  of  his  trade. 
"  Among  the  printers  here,"  said  he,  "  you  will  improve  yourself, 
and  when  you  return  to  America,  you  will  set  up  to  greater  advan- 
tage." 

To  add  to  his  dismay,  he  now  learned  that  his  comrade  intended 
to  remain  in  London.  He  also  knew  that  Ralph,  having  spent  all 
the  money  he  could  raise  in  paying  his  passage,  was  absolutely 
penniless,  and  had  not  a  friend  in  England,  except  himself,  who 
could  help  him  with  a  guinea. 

Franklin's  comments  on  the  atrocious  duplicity  of  Keith  have 
often  been  admired,  and  justly,  both  for  their  charity  and  wisdom  ; 


128  LIFE   AXD   TIMES    OP  BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [1725. 

if,  indeed,  there  is  any  difference  between  charity  and  wisdom.  To 
one  who  has  never  chanced  to  know  a  Keith,  they  may  be  incom- 
prehensible. "What  shall  we  think,"  he  asks,  "of  a  governor 
playing  such  pitiful  tricks,  and  imposing  so  grossly  upon  a  poor 
ignorant  boy  ?  It  was  a  habit  he  had  acquired ;  he  wished  to  please 
everybody,  and  having  little  to  give,  he  gave  expectations.  He 
was  otherwise  an  ingenious,  sensible  man,  a  pretty  good  ^vritcr, 
and  a  good  governor  for  the  people,  though  not  for  his  constituents, 
the  proprietaries,  whose  instructions  he  sometimes  disregarded : 
several  of  our  best  laws  were  of  his  planning,  and  passed  during 
his  administration."  The  unresentful  character  of  these  remarks 
may  have  been  due,  in  some  degree,  to  the  fact  that  they  were  writ- 
ten after  Keith  had  bitterly  expiated  his  errors. 

Upon  reading  the  letter  which  the  stationer  had  thrust  back  into 
his  hand,  the  youth  found  that  a  scheme  of  villany  had  been  formed 
against  Mr.  Andrew  Hamilton,  upon  whose  arrival  soon  after,  in 
London,  Franklin  sought  him  out,  and  revealed  what  he  had  dis- 
covered. This  revelation,  which  proved  to  be  of  great  advantage 
to  the  lawyer,  made  him  Franklin's  friend  and  helper,  as  long  as  he 
lived. 


CHAPTER  XL 

JOURNEYMAN   PRINTER   IN   LONDON. 

The  two  young  Americans  took  lodgings  together  in  the  street 
called  Little  Britain,  at  three  and  sixpence  a  week.  They  were  in- 
separable companions.  Ralph  was  dependent  upon  Franklin,  and 
Franklin  loved  Ralph  as  men  often  love  their  inferiors  who 
are  also  their  opposites.  Ralph  was  so  eloquent  in  conversa- 
tion, that  fifty  years  later,  when  Franklin  had  associated  with 
the  ablest  men  in  Europe  and  America,  he  could  still  think  that 
he  had  "  never  known  a  prettier  talker."  Ralph's  manners  also 
were  engaging,  and  he  really  possessed  talent.  His  misfortune 
was,  that  having  talent,  he  had  not  talent  enough.  At  this 
period,  too,  he  exhibited  many  amiable  and  endearing  traits,  which 


AGED    19.]  JOURNEYMAN   PRINTER   IN   LONDON.  129 

compelled  his  friend  to  love  him,  after  he  had  shown  himself  un- 
worthy. One  who  had  known  these  two  young  men  at  this  time 
— Franklin,  slow  and  hesitating  in  speech,  solid  and  often  grave 
in  aspect,  intent  chiefly  on  getting  forward  in  the  world  as  a 
man  of  business ;  and  Ralph,  handsome,  well-mannered,  eloquent,  and 
ambitious — would  surely  have  said  that  it  was  Ralph,  if  either,  who 
was  destined  to  greatness. 

Franklin,  however,  had  over  his  brilliant  companion  two  advan- 
tages, which  were  commonplace  indeed,  but,  just  then,  of  the  first 
importance,  namely :  ten  pounds  in  his  pocket,  and  a  trade  at  his 
finger  ends  that  would  bring  him  in  thirty  shillings  a  week ;  for 
Franklin  was  one  of  the  swiftest  of  compositors.  Without  difficulty 
or  delay,  he  obtained  work  at  the  great  printing-house  of  Palmer, 
in  Bartholomew  Close,  wherein  fifty  men  were  employed.  But 
Ralph  sought  employment  in  vain.  His  first  thought  was  the  stage  ; 
but  a  noted  comedian  to  whom  he  applied  assuring  him  that  he 
could  not  excel  as  an  actor,  he  proposed  to  a  publisher  to  write 
for  him  a  weekly  paper,  on  the  plan  of  the  Spectator.  The  publisher 
declined  the  proposal,  and  Ralph  was  fain  to  seek  for  copying  from 
the  lawyers.  But  not  even  copying  could  he  get.  Meanwhile  he 
remained  dependent  upon  Franklin,  whose  pistoles,  one  after  an- 
other, he  was  obliged  to  borrow. 

James  Thomson  came  to  London  this  year,  with  little  in  his 
pocket,  save  thepoemof  Winter,  the  first  of  the  "  Seasons ;"  and,  next 
year,  came  Voltaire  from  France,  bringing  with  him,  in  crude  form, 
the  Henriade.'  Both  of  them  had  the  pleasure  of  waking  one  morn- 
ing, very  soon  after  their  arrival,  and  finding  themselves  famous ; 
and  Voltaire  acquired  such  a  capital  in  English  guineas  as  enabled 
him  to  lay  a  broad  foundation  for  the  largest  fortune  ever  gained 
by  the  pen.  Pope,  too,  had  made  a  fortune  by  his  verses.  Ralph's 
enterprise,  therefore,  was  not  so  entirely  chimerical  as  it  seemed ; 
only,  he  was  not  quite  a  Thomson,  nor  a  Voltaire,  nor  a  Pope. 

These  young  men,  inhabitants  hitherto  of  plain  and  serious  Bos- 
ton and  Philadelphia,  where  even  a  dancing-master  was  scarcely 
permitted  yet  to  ply  his  useful  vocation,  were  in  London  ;  the  gay 
London  of  the  Spectator.  What  wonder  that  they  should  hasten  to 
enjoy  the  pleasures  of  the  town?  Franklin  was  diligent  in  his 
vocation,  but,  in  the  evenings,  he  and  Ralph  were  very  frequently 
at  the  theater,  the  darling  delight  of  unsophisticated  youth  of 
6* 


130  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1^725. 

talent.  Other  public  amusements  they  enjoyed  in  turn,  as  well  as 
excursions  on  Sundays.  Next  door  to  their  lodgings,  in  Little 
Britain,  was  a  second-hand  book-store,  containing  a  vast  collection 
of  books?  Circulating  libraries  being  then  unknown,  Franklin  agreed 
to  pay  the  shop-keeper  a  certain  sum  for  the  privilege  of  taking 
away  and  reading  any  of  his  books.  Absorbed  in  these  various 
pleasures,  uncertain  when  he  should  return  to  America,  or  whether 
he  could  ever  return,  his  prospects  totally  changed  by  the  perfidy 
of  Keith,  he  thought  less  and  less  of  Miss  Read.  He  wrote  to  her, 
a  short  time  after  his  arrival  in  London,  telling  her  that  he  was  not 
likely  to  return  soon.  As  time  passed,  his  money  diminished,  until 
even  the  possibility  of  a  speedy  return  was  no  longer  his.  Her  im- 
age insensibly  faded  from  his  heart,  and  he  wrote  to  her  no  more. 
"  This,"  he  says,  "  was  another  of  the  great  errata  of  my  life,  which 
I  could  wish  to  correct  if  I  were  to  live  it  over  again." 

For  nearly  a  year,  Franklin  continued  to  work  at  Palmer's  print- 
ing-house ;  earning  good  wages  and  spending  them.  Two  anec- 
dotes of  his  printing-house  life  during  this  year  are  preserved. 
The  less  interesting  incident  he  remembered  for  sixty-one  years,  and 
then  brought  it  forward  to  illustrate  a  scientific  inquiry.  In  Pal- 
mer's printing-house,  he  wrote,  "  I  found  a,  practice,  I  had  never  seen 
before,  of  drying  a  case  of  types  (which  are  wet  in  distribution)  by 
placing  it  sloping  before  the  fire.  I  found  this  had  the  additional 
advantage,  when  the  types  were  not  only  dried  but  heated,  of  being 
comfortable  to  the  hands  working  over  them  in  cold  weather.  I 
therefore  sometimes  heated  my  case  when  the  types  did  not  want 
drying.  But  an  old  workman,  observing  it,  advised  me  not  to  do 
so,  telling  me  I  might  lose  the  use  of  my  hands  by  it,  as  two  of  our 
companions  had  nearly  done,  one  of  whom,  that  used  to  earn  his 
guinea  a  week,  could  not  then  make  more  than  ten  shillings,  and 
the  other,  who  had  the  dangles,  but  seven  and  sixpence.  This,  with 
a  kind  of  obscure  pain,  that  I  had  sometimes  felt,  as  it  were  in  the 
bones  of  my  hand  when  working  over  the  types  made  very  hot,  in- 
duced me  to  omit  the  practice.  But  talking,  afterwards,  with  Mr. 
James,  a  letter-founder  in  the  same  Close,  and  asking  him  if  his 
people,  who  worked  over  the  little  furnaces  of  melted  metal,  were 
not  subject  to  that  disorder ;  he  made  light  of  any  danger  from  the 
effluvia,  but  ascribed  it  to  particles  of  the  metal  swallowed  with 
their  food  by  slovenly  workmen,  who  went  to  their  meals  after 


AGED    19.]  JOUEXEYMAN   PRINTER   IN   LONDON.  131 

handling  the  metal,  without  well  washing  their  fingers  ;  so  that 
some  of  the  metallic  particles  were  taken  off  by  their  bread  and 
eaten  with  it.  This  appeared  to  have  some  reason  in  it.  But  the 
pain  I  had  experienced  made  me  still  afraid  of  these  effluvia."* 

A  circumstance  of  the  highest  interest  remains  to  be  related  of 
this  year.  One  of  the  works  upon  which  our  young  compositor  was 
employed  at  Palmer's  was  Wollaston's  Religion  of  Nature  Deline- 
ated, an  exceedingly  popular  book  in  the  last  century.  It  was  pub- 
lished in  1725,  but  I  have  now  open  before  me  a  copy  of  the  seventh 
edition,  dated  1750 ;  which  contains  a  note  by  the  learned  Dr.  John 
Clarke,  to  the  effect,  that  the  book  was  "  in  great  esteem  with  her 
late  Majesty  Queen  Caroline,"  who  commanded  him  to  translate  the 
Latin,  Greek,  and  Hebrew  notes  for  her  own  use.  Wollaston  was 
a  wealthy,  unbeneficed  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England,  a 
learned  and  estimable  man,  who  devoted  the  leisure  of  many  years 
to  the  production  of  religious  literature,  all  of  which  he  destroyed, 
except  The  Religion  of  Nature  Delineated.  This  work  may  be  de- 
scribed as  an  attempt  to  educe  the  Church  of  England  from  "  the 
depths  of  the  author's  own  consciousness."  His  aim  was  to  show 
that  such  crimes  as  murder,  theft,  and  adultery  would  have  been 
wrong,  even  though  they  had  not  been  forbidden,  and  that  all  the 
virtues  would  have  been  obligatory,  though  they  had  not  been  com- 
manded. He  finds,  in  nature,  reasons  for  not  worshiping  graven 
images,  arguments  for  church-going,  and  proofs  of  the  immortality 
of  the  soul.  The  work  is  written  in  the  style  of  Euclid's  Geometry, 
and  contains  such  a  profusion  of  learned  notes,  that  the  task  devolv- 
ed upon  Dr.  Clarke  by  Queen  Caroline,  was  by  no  means  a  trivial 
one.  It  is  immeasurably  inferior  to  Butler's  Analogy,  and  Paley's 
Natural  Theology,  yet  both  of  those  works  might  have  been  sug- 
gested by  it.  The  object  of  all  of  them  was  to  show,  that  even  if  the 
Deists  could  succeed  in  destroying  the  doctrines  of  the  miraculous 
production  and  divine  authority  of  the  Bible,  still  the  essential  truths 
of  religion  would  remain  unshaken. 

This  most  harmless  and  most  amiable  of  books  excited  such  an- 
tagonistic thoughts  in  the  active  mind  of  our  compositor,  that  ho 
wrote  and  printed  a  pamphlet  of  thirty-two  pages  to  refute  it.  Mr. 
Wollaston  began  his  treatise  in  these  words :    "  The  foundation  of 

*  Franklin  to  Benjamin  Vaughan,  178R.     Sparks,  vi.,  565. 


132  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1*725. 

religion  lies  in  that  difference  between  the  acts  of  men  which  distin- 
guishes them  into  good^  evil^  indifferent.  For  if  there  is  such  a  dif- 
ference, there  must  be  religion,  and  contraP  It  was  upon  this  asser- 
tion that  Franklin  threw  himself  with  all  his  youthful  power.  His 
pamphlet  was  entitled  "  A  Dissertation  on  Liberty  and  N'ecessity, 
Pleasure  and  Pain,"  and  bore  upon  the  title-page  these  lines  of 
Dryden  : 

"  Whatever  is,  is  right.    But  purblind  man 
Sees  but  a  part  of  the  chain,  the  nearest  links ; 
His  eyes  not  carrying  to  that  equal  beam 
That  poises  all  above." 

As  WoUaston  addressed  his  treatise  to  "A.  F.,  Esq.,"  Franklin 
addressed  his  dissertation  to  "Mr.  J.  R.,"  Mr.  James  Ralph.  Wol- 
laston  apologizes  for  his  work  by  saying  that  his  friend  "  A.  F.,Esq.," 
had  once  asked  him,  "  Is  there  any  such  thing  as  natural  religion, 
and  if  there  is,  what  is  it  ?"  Franklin  begins  with  this  observation  : 
"I  have  here,  according  to  your  request,  given  you  my  present 
thoughts  on  the  general  state  of  things  in  the  universe." 

But  I  need  not  describe  this  ingenious  and  daring  production,  fori 
have  been  so  fortunate  as  to  obtain  a  copy,*  and  the  reader  will  find 
the  pamphlet  entire,  in  an  appendix  to  this  volume.  Until  about  five 
years  ago,  it  was  supposed  to  be  irrecoverably  lost.  Sir  James 
Mackintosh  searched  for  it  in  vain ;  and  Dr.  Sparks  had  no  better 
fortune.  Franklin  printed  but  a  hundred  copies,  most  of  which  he 
afterward  destroyed  with  his  own  hands,  when  he  had  begun  to  sus- 
pect the  conclusions  at  which  he  had  arrived.  Within  these  few 
years,  however,  two  copies  have  come  to  light,  one  of  the  original 
edition  in  thirty-two  pages,  and  one  of  a  later  date,  in  eighteen 
pages,  showing  that  the  pamphlet  was  reprinted. 

The  reader  will  perceive,  that,  in  this  production,  Franklin  car- 
;  ries  negation  to  the  extreme.  We  learn  from  it,  that  he  had  noNV 
I  lost  the  hope  of  retaining  his  personal  identity  beyond  the  grave ; 
Land  he  does  not  appear  to  have  regretted  the  loss. 

After  reading  this  pamphlet,  we  are  no  longer  surprised  to  learn, 
that  it  greatly  enhanced  the  consequence  of  the  young  compositor  in 


*  Obtained  through  the  kindaess  of  its  po3se3sor,  John  Stoyons,  Esq.,  of  Londou. 


AGED  19.]  JOURNEYMAN   PKINTEE   IN   LONDON.  133 

the  printiDg-office ;  though  his  employer  expostulated  with  him  up- 
on the  principles  of  his  dissertation,  which  he  thought  abominable. 
A  copy  fell  into  the  hands  of  Mr.  Lyons,  a  surgeon,  author  of  a 
book  entitled  "  The  Infallibility  of  Human  Judgment ;"  a  gentle- 
man who  was  intimate  with  the  noted  skeptics  of  the  day.  Lyons 
sought  out  the  young  author,  and  showed  him  marked  attention. 
He  took  him  to  an  ale-house  called  the  Horns,  where  a  club  of  free- 
thinkers assembled,  the  soul  and  head  of  which  was  Dr.  Mandeville, 
author  of  the  Fable  of  the  Bees,  a  work  much  in  harmony  with  Frank- 
lin's dissertation.  Lyons  introduced  Franklin  to  this  jovial  Dutch- 
man, then  well  advanced  in  years,  but  still  the  merriest,  the  most 
"clubbable"  of  men.  Lyons  also  introduced  the  young  man  to 
Dr.  Pemberton,  physician,  natural  philosopher,  mathematician, 
member  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  a  friend  of  Sir  Isaac  Newton. 
He  was  at  that  very  time  editing  the  third  and  final  edition  of  the 
Principia,  which  appeared  in  1726.  Dr.  Pemberton  promised  to 
give  Franklin  an  opportunity  of  seeing  Sir  Isaac,  which  Franklin 
extremely  desired.  But  the  great  philosopher,  then  past  eighty- 
two,  was  sinking  under  the  infirmities  of  age,  and  the  opportunity 
never  occurred. 

About  the  same  time,  Franklin  became  acquainted  with  another 
person  of  great  celebrity.  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  founder  of  the  British 
Museum,  and  already  the  possessor  of  an  unparalleled  private  col- 
lection of  curiosities.  Franklin  had  brought  to  London,  among 
other  curious  articles,  a  purse  made  of  asbestos,  a  great  rarity 
then.  "Sir  Hans  Sloane,"  Franklin  says  in  his  Autobiography, 
"  Aear{?of  it,"  but  he  does  not  tell  how  it  was  that  Sir  Hans  Sloane 
came  to  hear  of  it.  Some  years  after  the  death  of  Sir  Hans,  a  note 
addressed  to  him  by  Franklin,  dated  June  2,  1725,  was  published 
in  the  Gentleman^ a  Magazine^  which  explains  the  mystery : 

"  Sir  :  Having  lately  been  in  the  northern  parts  of  America,  I  have 
brought  from  thence  a  purse  made  of  the  asbestos^  a  piece  of  the 
stone  and  a  piece  of  the  wood,  the  pithy  part  of  which  is  of  the 
same  nature,  and  called  by  the  inhabitants  salamander  cotton.  As 
you  are  noted  to  be  a  lover  of  curiosities,  I  have  informed  you  of 
these  ;  and  if  you  have  any  inclination  to  purchase  or  see  them,  let 
me  know  your  pleasure  by  a  line  for  me  at  the  Golden  Inn,  Little 
Britain,  and  I  will  wait  upon  you  with  them.  I  am.  Sir,  your  m.ost 
humble  servant,  B.  Franklin. 


134  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l725. 

"  P.  S.  I  expect  to  be  out  of  town  in  two  or  three  days,  and 
therefore  beg  an  immediate  answer/'* 

Sir  Hans  Sloane,  keen  on  the  scent  of  a  novelty,  went  in  person 
to  the  lodgings  of  the  young  man  from  the  northern  parts  of 
America,  paid  him  handsomely  for  his  asbestos,  and  had  him  at 
his  house  in  Bloomsbury  Square,  where  he  showed  him  all  his  mar- 
velous store  of  curiosities. 

The  reason  of  Franklin's  willingness  to  sell  his  purse,  doubtless, 
was,  that  Ralph  had  consumed  all  his  pistoles,  and  was  still  a  fre- 
quent borrower  of  the  surplus  of  his  wages.  They  were  soon  rub- 
bing along,  as  Franklin  says,  from  hand  to  mouth.  And  when,  at 
length,  the  industrious  printer  was  relieved  of  the  heavy  burden 
of  his  comrade's  support,  it  was  only  to  be  involved  through  him 
in  worse  complications.  A  young  milliner,  who  had  a  shop  near 
by,  lodged  in  their  house ;  a  lively,  sensible,  and  agreeable  person. 
By  reading  to  her  in  the  evenings,  Ralph  became  intimate  with  her, 
and  when  she  removed  to  another  house,  he  followed  her,  lived 
with  her,  and  was  supported  by  her.  Her  income  proving  insuffi- 
cient for  the  maintenance  of  herself,  her  paramour  and  their  child, 
Ralph  went  into  the  country  and  obtained  the  mastership  of  a  vil- 
lage school,  the  most  honorable  employment  he  ever  exercised  in 
his  life.  Deeming  this  situation  totally  unworthy  of  his  talents, 
and  confident  of  one  day  emerging  from  obscurity  into  the  bright- 
ness of  a  great  renown,  he  assumed  the  name  of  his  friend  Frank- 
lin. It  is  gratifying  to  know  that  he  did  not  succeed  in  concealing 
this  part  of  his  career.  In  relating  the  quarrel  he  afterwards  had 
with  Gar  rick,  Mr.  Davies  takes  care  to  mention  that  Ralph  began 
life  as  a  schoolmaster.f  For  the  time,  however,  his  object  was 
attained.  He  wrote  to  his  friend,  telling  him  that  he  was  teaching 
a  dozen  boys  reading  and  writing,  at  sixpence  a  week  each,  recom- 
mending his  mistress  to  his  care,  and  requesting  him  when  he 
wrote  to  direct  his  letters  to  Mr.  Franklin. 

Ralph  now  began  to  write  an  epic  poem;  perhaps  the  ver}^  work 
which,  a  few  years  later,  provoked  the  satire  of  Pope.  Sheets  of 
this  epic  came  by  every  post  to  Franklin  for  his  remarks  and  cor- 
rections. He  sent  whole  letters  of  criticism  in  return,  endeavoring, 
but  without  eifect,  to  dissuade  the  poet  from  going  on.  He  copied 
from  one  of  Young's  Satires,  which  had  just  appeared,  a  long  pas- 

*  Sparks,  vii.,  1.  t  Davies's  Life  of  Garrick,  i.,  283. 


AGED    19.]  JOUKJfETMAN   PBINTEE   IN   LONDOliT.  135 

sage  on  the  folly  of  pursuing  the  Muses,  and  sent  it  to  his  infatuated 
friend.     But  installments  of  the  epic  poem  continued  to  arrive. 

Meanwhile  the  mistress  of  Ralph,  having  lost  business  and  friends 
through  her  connection  with  him,  used  often  to  send  for  Franklin 
in  her  distress,  and  borrow  money  of  him.  The  borrowing  con- 
tinued until  Ralph  and  his  affairs  had  cost  the  journeyman  printer 
twenty-seven  pounds,  about  half  the  wages  of  the  year.  But  this 
was  not  the  worst  that  befell  him.  Growing  fond  of  the  society  of 
this  unfortunate  woman,  he  became  very  intimate  with  her,  and,  at 
length,,  presuming  on  her  dependent  condition,  attempted  to  take 
liberties  with  her.  "Another  erratum,"  he  candidly  confesses;  the 
worst  erratum  of  his  life,  perhaps  he  might  with  truth  have  added. 
She  repulsed  him  with  becoming  resentment,  and  informed  Ralf)h 
of  what  had  occurred.  On  his  return,  soon  after,  to  London,  the 
poet  gave  Franklin  to  understand  that  he  considered  all  his  obliga- 
tions to  him  annulled,  and  their  friendship  at  an  end.  They  sepa- 
rated, not  to  meet  again  for  nearly  thirty  years. 

Ralph  pushed  his  literary  career  with  extraordinary  resolution 
and  perseverance.  He  pubhshed  soon  a  poem,  entitled  Night, 
which  brought  him  neither  profit  nor  reputation.  He  wrote  plays, 
some  of  which  failed,  and  others  were  never  acted.  He  was  a  part- 
ner in  the  management  of  a  theater,  and  prospered  not.  He  wrote 
satirical  verses,  which  made  him  hated,  and  caused  Pope  to  insert 
in  one  of  the  later  editions  of  the  Dunciad  the  well-known  couplet : 

"  Silence,  ye  wolves,  while  Ralph  to  Cynthia  howls, 
And  makes  night  hideous!  answer  him,  ye  owls  !" 

To  these  lines  Pope  appended  a  note,  surcharged  with  venom : 
"  James  Ralph,  a  name  inserted  after  the  first  editions,  not  known 
to  our  author  till  he  wrote  a  swearing  piece  called  '  Sawney,'  very 
abusive  of  Dr.  Swift,  Mr.  Gay,  and  himself  These  lines  allude  to 
a  thing  of  his  entitled  '  Mght,'  a  poem.  This  low  writer  attended 
his  own  works  with  panegyrics  in  the  journals,  and  once,  in  par- 
ticular, praised  himself  highly  above  Mr.  Addison,  in  wretched 
remarks  on  that  author's  account  of  Enghsh  poets,  printed  in  a 
London  journal,  September,  1728.     He  was  wholly  illitei-ate,*  and 

*  Ealph's  work  on  the  "  Use  and  Abuse  of  Parliaments,"  published  in  1744,  abounds  in  Latin 
quotations. 


136  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAJtllN   FEANKXIN.  [1725. 

knew  no  language,  not  even  French.  Being  advised  to  read  the 
rules  of  dramatic  poetry  before  he  began  a  play,  he  smiled,  and 
replied  :  '  Shakspeare  wrote  without  rules.'  He  ended,  at  last,  in 
a  political  newspaper,  to  which  he  was  recommended  by  his  friend 
Cunall,  and  received  a  small  pittance  for  pay  ;  and  being  detected 
in  writing  on  both  sides,  on  one  and  the  same  day,  he  publicly  jus- 
tified the  morality  of  his  conduct."* 

Part  of  the  sting  of  these  words  lies  in  the  fact  that,  although 
written  as  early  as  1729,  they  speak  of  poor  Ralph  in  the  past 
tense^  as  though  the  "  political  newspaper"  were  a  tomb  of  infamy, 
into  which  he  had  sunk,  and  disappeared  forever.  "Pope's  coup- 
lets," says  Dr.  A.  Carlyle,  "  stamped  character  in  those  days ;" 
and  Franklin  tells  us  that  Ralph  wrote  poetry  "  till  Pope  cured 
him."  Dr.  Johnson,  also,  mentions,  in  his  "Life  of  Pope,"  that 
Ralph  said  Pope's  couplet  almost  reduced  him  to  starvation,  for  no 
bookseller  could  be  induced  to  believe  in  his  capacity.  But  as  a 
political  writer,  pamphleteer,  and  compiler  of  booksellers'  history, 
he  flourished  long.  Four  ministers  thought  his  pen  worth  pur- 
chasing :  Sir  Robert  Walpole,  Mr.  Pelham,  Lord  Bute,  and  the 
Duke  of  Bedford.  The  nobleman  last  named  evidently  held  him 
in  high  esteem,  and  furnished  the  money  for  one  of  Ralph's  polit- 
ical periodicals.!  Lord  Bute,  it  is  said,  settled  upon  him  an  annuity 
of  six  hundred  pounds. J  Fox  praises  the  fairness,  and  Hallam  the 
diligence,  displayed  in  his  two  huge  folios  of  the  "  History  of  Wil- 
liam ni."  His  works  may  be  examined  by  the  curious,  in  the 
library  of  Harvard  University,  and  in  the  Philadelphia  City  Library. 
In  estimating  the  career  of  this  erring  man,  we  should  not  forget 
that  many  of  the  noblemen  and  statesmen  with  whom  he  associated, 
and  for  whose  advancement  he  toiled,  had  less  principle  ttian  he, 
and  had  not  his  excuse. 

Relieved  of  supporting  Ralph,  whom,  however,  he  still  loved, 
Franklin  bestirred  himself  to  mend  his  fortunes.  Li  expectation 
of  more  profitable  work,  he  left  Palmer's,  and  obtained  a  place  at 
Watt's  printing-house,  near  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  an  establishment 
still  more  extensive  than  Palmer's.  We  have  some  pleasing  inci- 
dents of  the  time  spent  by  him  at  Watt's. 

Little  Britain,  where  he  had  lodged  during  his  stay  in  London, 

*  "Dunciad,"  Book  iii.,  line  1C5.  t  "Bedford  Correspondence,"  ii.,  127,  135,  186. 

ijrDavies'b  "Lifoof  Garrick,"  i,,  283, 


AGED    19.]  JOUETTEYMAN  PRINTER   IN   LONDON.  137 

is  a  ]j.ttle  ancient  street,  only  a  few  steps  from  Bartholomew's  Close, 
in  which  was  situated  Palmer's  printing-house.     The  consequent 
Yv^ant  of  exercise  beginning  to  tell  upon  his  system,  he  preferred  to 
work  in  the  press-room  of  his  new  place  of  employment.     Press- 
work  appears,  then,  to  have  been  the  superior  part  of  the  trade. 
Franklin,   at   least,    in   speaking   of  Keimer's   incompetency  as  a 
printer,  calls  him  a  mere  compositor  ;  and,  really,  a  man  must  have 
I  possessed  unusual  talent  for  taking  pains  to  get  good  impressions 
f  from  the  presses  in  use  a  hundred  and  thirty  years  ago.     At  this 
■  period  of  his  life  Franklin  drank  only  water.     His  fellow-pressmen, 
'  nearly  fifty  in  number,  were  great  drinkers  of  beer.     Nevertheless, 
the  Water- American,  as  they  nicknamed  him,  carried  up  and  down 
stairs  a  form  on  each  hand,  while  the  beer-drinkers  carried  but  one 
on  both  hands.     They  wondered  that  he,  who,  they  supposed,  de- 
j  rived  no  strength  from  his  drink,  should  be  stronger  than  them- 
selves  who  drank  strong  beer.     "My  companion  at  the  press," 
i  says  Franklin,  "  drank  every  day  a  pint  before  breakfast,  a  pint  at 
breakfast  with  his  bread  and  cheese,  a  pint  between  breakfast  and 
dinner,  a  pint  at  dinner  ;  a  pint  in  the  afternoon  about  six  o'clock, 
I  and  another  when  he  had  done  his  day's  work.     I  thought  it  a  de- 
I  testable  custom  ;  but  it  was  necessary,  he  supposed,  to  drink  strong 
beer,  that  he  might  be  strong  to  labor.     I  endeavored  to  convince 
him  that  the  bodily  strength  afforded  by  beer  could  only  be  in  pro- 
portion to  the  grain  or  flour  of  the  barley,  dissolved  in  the  water 
of  which  it  was  made  ;  that  there  was  more  flour  in  a  pennyworth 
of  bread,  and,  therefore,  if  he  could  eat  that  with  a  pint  of  water,  it 
would  give  him  more  strength  than  a  quart  of  beer.     He  drank  on, 
however,  and  had  four  or  five  shillings  to  pay  out  of  his  wages 
every  Siturday  night  for  that  vile  liquor :  an  expense  I  was  free 
from  ;  and  thus  these  poor  devils  keep  themselves  always  under." 

When  he  had  worked  for  some  weeks  among  the  pressmen,  he 
was  transferred,  by  the  desire  of  his  employer,  to  the  composing- 
room.  The  compositors  demanded  an  entrance-fee  of  five  shillings, 
the  sum  expected  of  all  new-comers.  As  he  had  already  paid  a  fee 
on  entering  the  establishment,  he  considered  the  new  demand  an 
imposition ;  and  Mr.  Watt  being  of  the  same  opinion,  he  refused 
to  pay  it.  He  held  out  two  or  three  weeks,  but  so  many  annoying 
little  practical  jokes  were  played  upon  him  and  his  work,  that  be 
was  glad  to  pay  the  money  at  last ;  convinced,  as  he  records,  of  the 


138  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l'726. 

folly  of  being  on  ill  terms  with  people  with  whom  one  has  to  live 
continually.  Being  then  on  a  friendly  footing  with  his  new  com- 
panions, he  acquired  over  tliem  the  influence  due  to  his  superior 
talents  and  knowledge. 

A  talent  for  repartee  goes  a  great  way  in  any  workshop,  and  is 
nowhere  more  enjoyed  than  in  a  printing-office.  Franklin's  readi- 
ness in  this  respect  made  him  popular,  and  aided  to  give  weight, 
perhaps,  to  his  opinions  and  hi^  example.  Great,  indeed,  must 
have  been  the  force  of  an  example,  and  admirable  the  tact  of  an 
understanding,  capable  of  convincing  Englishmen  that  water-gruel 
is  better  than  beer !  But  even  this  triumph  of  reason  over  habit 
was  vouchsafed  to  the  young  philosopher.  "  From  my  example," 
he  says,  "  a  great  many  of  them  left  their  muddling  breakfast  of 
beer,  bread,  and  cheese,  finding  they  could  with  me  be  supplied 
from  a  neighboring  house  with  a  large  porringer  of  hot  water-gruel, 
sprinkled  with  pepper,  crumbled  with  bread,  and  a  bit  of  butter  in 
it,  for  the  price  of  a  pint  of  beer,  viz.,  three  halfpence.  This  was  a 
more  comfortable  as  well  as  a  cheaper  breakfast,  and  kept  their 
heads  clearer.  Those  who  continued  sotting  with  their  .beer  all 
day,  were  often,  by  not  paying,  out  of  credit  at  the  alehouse,  and 
used  to  make  interest  with  me  to  get  beer,  their  lights  as  they 
phrased  it,  heing  out.  I  watched  the  pay-table  on  Saturday  night, 
and  collected  what  I  stood  engaged  for  them,  having  to  pay  some- 
times near  thirty  shillings  a  week  on  their  accounts." 

Besides  this  triumph,  he  carried,  against  much  opposition,  some 
valuable  changes  in  their  printing-house  laws.  His  extreme  quick- 
ness at  composition,  and  his  regularity  of  attendance,  recommended 
him  to  the  master,  and  procured  him  a  large  share  of  the  work  at 
which  the  best  wages  could  be  earned.  His  steady  industry  and 
improved  habits  enabled  him  to  replenish  his  purse,  and  he  went  on 
for  several  months  without  interruption  or  drawback. 

His  eagerness  to  save  money  led  him  to  practice  one  piece  of 
economy  that  cannot  be  admired.  Removing  to  lodgings  in  Duke 
Street,  in  order  to  be  nearer  the  printing-house,  he  agreed,  at  first, 
to  pay  three  and  sixpence  a  week  ;  and  the  landlady  was  induced 
to  accept  so  moderate  a  remuneration  by  her  desire  to  have  the  pro- ' 
tection  of  a  man  in  her  house.  He  heard,  soon  after,  of  a  lodging 
which  he  could  have  for  two  shillings  a  week,  and  proposed  to  re- 
move to  it.     His  landlady,  however,  was  so  pleased  with  her  lodger, 


AGED    20.]  JOIJBNEYMAN   PKINTEE   IN   LONDON".  139 

ind  so  much  enjoyed  his  conversation  in  the  evenings,  that  she 
offered  to  throw  off  two  shillings  a  weet  if  he  would  remain. 
'  So,"  he  says,  "I  remained  with  her  at  one  shilling  and  sixpence 
IS  long  as  I  stayed  in  London."  This  economy  was  the  less  com- 
ueudable  because  the  landlady  was  as  agreeable  to  the  lodger  as 
:]ie  lodger  was  to  the  landlady.  She  was  an  extremely  entertain- 
ng  old  lady,  full  of  anecdote  and  kindness.  She  was  so  lame  that 
;ho  could  seldom  leave  her  room,  and  often  invited  Franklin  to 
spend  an  evening  with  her.  Her  company,  he  admits,  was  so 
liglily  amusing  to  him,  that  he  never  wished  to  decline  her  invita- 
ion.  At  supper-time,  the  old  lady  would  spread  a  most  frugal 
•epast ;  half  an  anchovy  for  each,  on  a  very  thin  slice  of  bread  and 
)utter,  and  half  a  pint  of  ale  between  them.  But  her  thousand 
mecdotes  of  the  last  four  reigns,  derived  from  personal  inter- 
soiirse  with  leading  families,  were  an  exhaustless  entertainment  to 
lini. 

In  the  garret  of  this  house  had  lodged,  for  many  years,  one  of 
Lose  living  relics  of  Catholic  England,  of  whom  many  still  lingered 
t  that  day  in  the  nooks  of  London.  This  was  a  CathoHc  maiden 
)f  ^^oventy,  who  had  retained  of  a  considerable  fortune  only  twelve 
)oiuids  a  year  for  her  own  subsistence,  and  spent  part  of  that  in 
ihnrity.  In  early  life  she  had  entered  a  nunnery  on  the  contment, 
)ut,  the  climate  not  agreeing  with  her,  she  returned  to  England, 
nd  endeavored  in  her  London  garret  to  live  as  nun-like  a  Kfe  as 
vas  possible  in  a  country  where  nunneries  were  unlawful.  She 
ived  on  water-gruel  only,  and  used  no  fire  except  to  cook  it.  The 
JathoUc  tenants  had  for  many  years  refused  to  take  rent  fi'ora  her, 
is  they  deemed  it  a  blessing  to  have  her  in  their  house.  Daily  a 
)iicst  visited  her  apartment  to  receive  her  confession.  Franklin's 
andlady  once  asked  her  how  she,  living  as  she  did,  could  possibly 
ind  so  much  employment  for  a  confessor.  "  Oh,"  replied  the  re- 
hise,  "  it  is  impossible  to  avoid  vain  thoughts."  Franklin  himself 
v^as  once  permitted  to  visit  this  aged  saint.  "She  was  cheerfu]," 
e  records,  "  and  polite,  and  conversed  pleasantly.  The  room  was 
lean,  but  had  no  other  furniture  than  a  mattress,  a  table  with  a 
rucifix  and  a  book,  a  stool  v/hich  she  gave  me  to  sit  on,  and  a  pic- 
ure  over  the  chimney  of  /Si.  Veronica  displaying  her  handkerchief, 
,^vith  the  miraculous  figure  of  Christ's  bleeding  face  on  it,  whicli 
he  explained  to  me  with  great  seriousness.     She  looked  pale,  but 


(he  explai 


140  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1726 

was  never  sick,  and  I  give  it  as  another  instance  on  how  small  ai 
income  life  and  health  may  be  supported." 

He  met  with  another  religious  eccentric,  a  printer's  widow,  Mrs 
Hive,  who  believed  that  this  present  world  is  liell^  and  its  inhabit 
ants  spirits  w^ho  are  expiating  sins  committed  in  a  previous  stat 
of  existence,  of  which  they  retain  no  recollection.  After  death 
she  thought,  the  knowledge  of  our  former  state  returned  to  us 
and  the  recollection  of  the  punishment  we  had  endured  in  hell,  ha* 
the  two-fold  eifect  of  keeping  us  virtuous  and  deterring  others  froc 
vice.  The  good  lady  attached  so  much  importance  to  her  singula 
creed,  that  she  bound  her  son  to  deliver,  in  a  public  hall,  a  solemi 
discourse  in  which  the  doctrine  should  be  set  forth  and  vindicated 
The  discourse  was  delivered  ;  and  Franklin,  years  after,  saw  a  cop^ 
of  it  in  print,  abounding  in  citations  from  the  Bible. 

During  the  latter  part  of  Franklin's  stay  in  London,  he  is  said 
but  not  on  the  best  authority,*  to  have  formed  the  acquaintance  c 
Peter  CoHinson,  a  young  man  of  fortune,  devoted  to  natural  sc: 
ence.  Collinson  may  have  heard  of  the  young  American  tlu'ougl 
Sir  Hans  Sloane,  whose  collection  he  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting. 
He  is  said  to  have  sought  out  Franklin  at  Watt's  printing-house 
and  to  have  become  warmly  attached  to  him.  Be  that  as  it  maj 
Franklin  and  Collinson,  as  we  know,  were  correspondents  an( 
friends  from  1730  to  the  death  of  Collinson,  in  1768. 

One  of  Franklin's  fellow-workmen  at  Watt's  printing-house,  wa 
David  Hall,  who  was  afterwards  his  partner  in  Philadelphia  fo: 
many  years.  Another  named  Wygate,  a  man  of  considerable  edi 
cation,  was  his  frequent  companion.  He  taught  Wygate  and 
friend  of  his  to  swim  in  two  lessons,  an  incident  that  came  nea 
diverting  him  from  his  proper  career.  Joining  a  party  of  Wygate' 
friends  from  the  country,  who  were  going  to  visit  Chelsea,  he  wa 
entreated,  as  they  were  returning  by  water,  to  give  the  company  a 
exhibition  of  his  feats  in  swimming.  Chelsea,  which  has  now  ru: 
into  huge  London,  was  then  a  pretty  country  village,  four  miles  an( 
a  half  from  St.  Paul's.  Franklin,  seldom  reluctant  to  take  to  th 
water,  stripped,  leaped  in,  performed  all  the  tricks  he  knew,  au( 
swam  without  resting  from  near  Chelsea  to  Blackfriars,  a  distance  o 
four  miles.     He  had  long  ago  exhausted  the  science  of  swimming 

•  Wecms's  Life  of  Franklin,  chap.  xxxv.  +  Encyclopsedia  Britannica,  vii,  134. 


clGED  20.]  JOURNEYMAN   PRINTEE   IN   LONDON.  141 

tie  could  do  all  that  was  possible  both  on  the  water  and  under  the 
water.  The  company  were  amazed  at  his  skill  and  endurance,  and 
Wygate  conceived  such  a  fondness  for  bim,  that  he  proposed  they 
jhonld  make  the  tour  of  Europe  together,  supporting  themselves 
everywhere  by  their  trade.     Bayard  Taylor  anticipated. 

At  first  he  was  inclined  to  embrace  the  proposition,  and  mention- 
d  it  to  Mr.  Denham,  with  whom  he  had  maintained  an  acquaint- 
mce  ever  since  they  had  landed  from  the  London-Hope  together. 
Mr.  Denham  did  more  than  dissuade  him.  He  urged  him  to  think 
)nly  of  returning  to  Pennsylvania,  which  he  was  himself  about  to 
io,  with  a  great  cargo  of  merchandise.  This  Mr.  Denham  was  one 
)f  those  merchants  whose  scrupulous  honesty  first  rescued  the  name 
>f  merchant  from  opprobrium,  and  gradually  made  it  honorable 
hroughout  Christendom.  After  failing  in  business  at  Bristol,  he 
emigrated  to  America,  where,  in  a  few  years,  he  gained  a  large 
fortune.  He  returned  to  England,  as  we  have  seen,  and  on  reaching 
Bristol,  invited  all  his  old  creditors  to  dinner.  Before  going  to  the 
table,  he  made  them  a  little  address,  in  which  he  thanked  them  for 
the  easy  composition  with  which  they  had  favored  him  after  his 
bankruptcy.  At  the  end  of  the  first  course,  when  the  plates  were 
removed,  every  man  found  before  him  a  check  for  the  amount  still 
due  him,  with  interest  added.  He  was  now  about  to  resume  his 
business  in  America.  He  offered  Franklin  the  place  of  clerk  and 
book-keeper  in  the  extensive  store  which  he  proposed  to  open  in 
Philadelphia.  The  salary  of  the  place,  fifty  pounds  a  year,  was 
less  than  the  wages  Franklin  was  then  earning  as  a  compositor. 
But  Denham  engaged,  as  soon  as  the  young  man  should  have  become 
acquainted  with  mercantile  business,  to  send  him  with  a  cargo  to 
the  West  Indies,  and  procure  him  commissions  from  other  merchants 
and  in  other  ways  assist  him  to  get  into  business  for  himself. 

Franklin  was  tired  of  London  and  dissatisfied  with  the  life  he 
had  led  there.  Often  had  he  recalled  with  pleasure  the  innocent 
and  happy  months  he  had  passed  in  Philadelphia,  and  had  often 
longed  to  revisit  those  pleasant  scenes.  He  accepted  Mr.  Denham's 
offer.  He  took  leave  of  the  printing-house,  as  he  supposed,  forever, 
and  was  occupied,  day  after  day,  in  packing  and  forwarding  mei- 
cbandise.  When  all  had  been  stowed  on  board  the  ship,  some  days 
still  remained  before  the  time  fixed  for  her  departure. 

On  one  of  these  days,  he  was  surprised  to  receive  a  request  to 


142  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FEANKLTN.  [I726.t 

visit  Sir  William  Wyndhnra,  a  man  of  great  celebrity  at  that  time' 
from  his  having  been  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer  in  the  Bolingbroke 
administration,  and  a  sharer  in  the  persecutions  of  his  brilliant  chief 
He  waited  upon  the  great  man.  Sir  William  told  him  that  he  had 
heard  of  his  swimming  from  Chelsea  to  Blackfriars,  and  also  of  his 
having  taught  the  two  young  men  to  swim  in  a  few  hours.  He  said 
that  he  had  two  sons  about  to  set  out  on  their  travels,  who,  he 
wished,  should  be  taught  to  swim  before  starting,  and  if  Franklin 
would  teach  them,  he  would  pay  him  liberally  for  his  trouble. 
Greatly  to  his  regret,  he  was  compelled  to  decline  the  offer,  as  the 
young  men  had  not  yet  come  to  town,  and  his  own  stay  was  uncer- 
tain. He  was  so  struck  with  the  incident,  that  he  thought  if  the 
proposal  had  been  made  to  him  before  he  had  engaged  himself  to 
Mr.  Denham,  he  should  have  remained  in  England  and  opened  a 
swimming  school. 

It  thus  appears,  that  he  had  not,  at  this  time,  a  preference  for  any 
particular  career.  He  was  perfectly  aware  that  saving  money  is 
the  mode  by  which  journeymen  become  masters,  and  his  scheme  of  life 
was  simply  to  get  on  and  be  a  prosperous  citizen.  And  it  is  to  be 
observed  of  all  the  men  who  have  rendered  signal  and  immeasur- 
able services  to  mankind — such  men,  for  example,  as  Shakspeare, 
Newton,  Handel,  James  Watt,  Robert  Fulton,  and  John  Walter — 
have  never  indulged  the  flattering  delusion  of  having  a  grand  aim. 
They  have  taken  hold  of  their  tasks  in  the  most  simple  and  ordi- 
nary fashion,  and  been  actuated  by  the  most  simple  and  ordinary 
motives.  Shakspeare  appears  to  have  cared  chiefly  to  fill  the  Globe 
Theater ;  Newton,  to  do  his  duty  as  professor  of  mathematics,  and 
keep  out  of  controversies ;  Watt,  to  establish  a  great  machine 
factory;  Walter,  to  sell  the  Times  newspaper  by  thousands, 
instead  of  hundreds ;  Handel,  to  gain  an  honest  living  by  com- 
posing music  and  playing  the  organ,  fit  really  appears  to  be 
only  second-rate  men  who  have  great  aims.  Tlie  truly  able  and 
Avise  person  seems  only  to  do,  in  a  superior  and  original  manner, 
the  duties  that/a/^  in  his  way^  or  that  belong  to  his  vocation.  He 
glorifies  the  common  lot.  He  does  sublime  things  merely  in  the 
way  of  earning  his  livelihood,  or  by  way  of  recreation  after  he  has 
done  work.  ,  And  when  we  consider  what  life  may  be  to  a  man,  and 
is  to  all  men  Avho  haA^e  learned  how  to  live,  we  are  inclined  to  ques- 
tion Avhether  a  motive  more  truly  lofty  is  possible  than  this :  to 


AGED  20.]  THE   VOYAGE    HOME.  143 

cam  one's  living.  Who  can  do  more  than  requite  the  universe  for 
tl  I  a  gift  of  life  ?  No  man.  ILxjDpy  he  who  does  not  bring  in  the 
universe  a  loser ! 

July  21  St,  1726,  Frankhn  embarked  on  board  the  ship  Berkshire, 
Henry  Clark,  master,  bound  for  Philadelphia.  In  London  he  had 
lived  for  a  year  and  a  half  He  had  not  improved  his  fortune,  but 
ic  had  acquired  skill  in  his  trade,  and  had  increased  his  knowledge, 
Ijoth  of  books  and  of  the  world.  He  had  met  some  distinguished, 
:i:id  several  ingenious  men,  whose  conversation  had  been  beneficial 
to  him,  as  well  as  pleasing.  A  journeyman  printer  in  populous 
London,  a  stranger,  too,  in  a  strange  land,  we  still  see  that  he  tended 
strongly  upward,  by  a  law  which  we  must  not  say  is  as  sure  as 
gravitation,  because  it  is  gravitation.  If  he  had  stayed  in  London, 
he  would  have  been  a  leading  publisher  and  member  of  Parliament 
before  he  was  forty-five,  hke  his  friend  William  Strahan,  who  also 
began  as  a  journeyman  printer.  Franklin  was  on  the  direct  road  to 
l;oth  those  distinctions  when  he  joined  Mr.  Denham. 

His  valued  acquaintance,  Peter  Collinson,  accompanied  him  on 
board  the  ship,  we  are  told.  At  parting,  they  are  said  to  have  ex- 
changed walking  sticks,  and  promises  to  correspond.* 


CHAPTER  Xn. 

THE   VOYAGE   HOME. 


The  Berkshire  was  eighty-two  days  in  getting  from  London  to 
Philadelphia.  The  passage  was  called  a  long  one,  but  it  was  not 
long  enough  to  excite  particular  remark  at  that  day.  What  with  the 
slowness  of  the  ship,  the  delays  in  the  channel,  the  danger  of  being 
blown  down  across  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  the  liability  of  being  chased 
by  pirates  in  time  of  peace,  and  by  privateers  in  time  of  war,  and 


the  frequent  necessity  of  running  into  a  port  for  repairs,  it  was  not 
very  uncommon  for  vessels  to  be  three,  five,  seven  months  in 
making  the  passage  from  Europe  to  America.  There  is  one  passage 
of  eleven  months  on  record,  five  of  which  were  spent  in  a  Spanish 
port  repairing  damages.     The  Berkshire  appears  to  have  been  a 


*  Vv^ecms's  Life  of  Franklin,  chap.  xxsv. 


144  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN.  [1*726. 

small  ship,  or,  in  other  words,  to  have  been  a  ship  of  about  two 
hundred  tons,  instead  of  three  hundred  and  fifty  or  four  hundred. 
If  we  may  judge  from  the  pictures  of  ships  that  have  been  preserved 
from  that  period  in  the  Philadelphia  Library,  we  may  condude  that 
the  good  ship  Berkshire  bore  a  much  closer  resemblance  to  a 
Chinese  junk  than  to  a  Philadelphia  packet  of  the  present  time. 
Captain,  passengers,  and  crew,  numbered  twenty-one  men. 

A  sea-voyage  was,  indeed,  a  most  formidable  affair,  a  hundred 
and  thirty  years  ago.  I  have  stumbled  upon  a  few  particulars, 
which  may  be  interesting  to  some  readers.  The  familiar  distinc- 
tion between  cabin  passengers  and  steerage  passengers  dates  only 
from  the  time  when  poor  people  and  bought  servants  began  to  emi- 
grate to  America ;  say,  about  the  year  1700.  The  Pilgrim  Fathers, 
William  Penn,  Benjamin  Franklin,  and  the  great  host  of  respect- 
able passengers,  from  1620  to  1775,  appear  to  have  paid  about  five 
pounds  each  as  passage-money,  which  entitled  a  passenger  to  sail-i 
ors'  fare  of  salt  beef  and  biscuit.  All  other  stores  were  either  pro-' 
vided  by  the  passengers,  or  furnished  by  the  captain,  at  a  price 
agreed  upon.  But  Franklin,  in  his  well-known  article  on  the  sub- 
ject,* warns  the  inexperienced  voyager  to  put  no  trust  in  captains ; 
but  to  lay  in  a  supply  of  bottled  water,  tea,  coffee,  wine,  sugar, 
raisins,  eggs,  rum,  biscuit,  and  cooking  utensils.  The  passengers 
were  sometimes  divided  into  messes  of  four  each,  who  clubbed 
their  stores,  and  made  common  cause  against  the  ravages  of  the 
cook,  who  was  always  the  worst  sailor  in  the  ship,  and  had  been 
transferred  from  the  forecastle  to  the  galley  for  that  sole  reason. 
As  late  as  1784,  Mrs.  Adams  could  still  describe  her  sea-cook  as 
a  "  great,  dirty,  lazy  negro,  with  no  more  knowledge  of  cooking 
than  a  savage."  "  On  came  the  dishes,"  she  adds,  "  higgledy-pig- 
gledy, with  a  leg  of  pork  all  bristly ;  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after,  a 
pudding,  or,  perhaps,  a  pair  of  roast  fowls  ;  when  dinner  is  nearly 
completed,  a  plate  of  potatoes."f  Dr.  Johnson's  abhorrence  of 
ship-board,  which  has  been  often  set  down  as  one  of  his  mad  pre- 
judices, was  not  so  very  unreasonable.  "  A  ship,"  he  would  say, 
"  is  worse  than  a  jail :  there  is  in  a  jail  better  air,  better  company, 
better  conveniences  of  every  kind,  and  a  ship  has  the  additional 

*  "  Precautions  to  be  used  by  those  who  are  about  to  undertake  a  sea-voyage." — Sparks,  ii., 
106. 
t  Letters  of  Mrs.  John  Adams,  ii.,  14. 


AGED  20.]  THE  VOYAGE  HOME.  145 

disadvantage  of  being  in  danger."     This  remained  a  true  descrip- 
tion of  life  on  board  ship  until  after  the  year  1800. 

The  diary*  punctually  kept  by  Franklin  during  his  long  passage 
home,  is  a  most  pleasing  picture  of  a  young,  large,  and  inquisitive  soul. 
Some  trait  of  the  man  is  revealed  in  every  entry.  We  see  a  strong 
masculine  understanding  united  with  sensitive  and  tender  feelings ; 
sound,  practical  sense  joined  to  a  sentimental  reflectiveness  that 
reminds  the  Shakspearean  reader  of  his  much  loved  Jaques;  a  mind 
ahve  to  the  beauties,  but  also  most  curious  as  to  the  processes  of 
nature ;  and  here  and  there  a  touch  of  worldly  wisdom,  indicating 
a  youth  destined  to  win  a  liberal  portion  of  what  the  world  hastens 
to  bestow  upon  those  who  serve  it  as  it  wishes  to  be  served.  There ' 
are  men  who  are  said  to  value  themselves  upon  being  pilgrims  and 
strangers  on  earth.  .Franklin,  from  early  life  to  old  age,  gives  us 
assiirance  that  he  was  aiJ  home  upon  the  pTaifet  that  had  the  Honor 
oTpi'oducing  him,  and  knew  instinctively  how  to  adjust  himself  to 
itsjvays. 

The  ship  dropped  down  to  Gravesend  in  the  afternoon  of  July 
21st,  anchored  there  late  in  the  same  evening,  and  remained  two 
days.  Franklin,  who  was  much  ashore  during  these  two  days,  re- 
cords his  opinion  of  the  people  of  Gravesend  in  the  language  of  a 
man  who  has  been  cheated :  "  This  Gravesend  is  a  cursed  biting 
place ;  the  chief  dependence  of  the  people  being  the  advantage  they 
make  of  imposing  upon  strangers.  If  you  buy  any  thing  of  them, 
and  give  half  what  they  ask,  you  pay  twice  as  much  as  the  thing  is 
worth.     Thank  God,  we  shall  leave  it  to-morrow." 

And  so  they  did.  After  beating  about  in  the  channel  for  four 
days,  they  anchored  off  Portsmouth,  and  the  captain,  Mr.  Denham, 
and  Mr.  Denham's  clerk  went  on  shore  to  view  the  wonders  of  the 
dockyard.  Franklin  records  his  astonishment  at  the  naval  power 
of  his  country,  as  displayed  in  the  fact,  that  while  England  had 
three  great  fleets  at  sea,  he  could  count  thirty  large  men-of-war 
lying  in  Portsmouth  harbor.  But  the  gem  of  the  passages  in  his 
diary  relating  to  Portsmouth  is  a  sage  reflection  respecting  pun- 
ishment, which  anticipates  the  theory  of  punishment  expounded  by 
Horace  Mann,  and  exhausts  the  subject. 

"  The  people  of  Portsmouth,"  wrote  the  young  philosopher,  "  tell 

*  Published  in  Sparks,  i.,  547. 


146  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1720. 

strange  stories  of  the  severity  of  one  Gibson,  who  was  governor  of 
this  place  in  the  Queen's  time,  to  his  soldiers,  and  show  you  a  mis- 
erable dungeon  by  the  town  gate,  which  they  call  Johnny  Gibson^s 
Hole^  where,  for  trifling  misdemeanors,  he  used  to  confine  his  sol- 
diers till  they  were  almost  starved  to  death.  It  is  a  common  maxim, 
that,  without  severe  discipline,  it  is  impossible  to  govern  the  licen- 
tious rabble  of  soldiery.  I  own,  indeed,  that  if  a  commander  finds 
he  has  not  those  qualities  in  him  that  will  make  him  beloved  by  his 
people,  he  ought,  by  all  means,  to  make  use  of  such  methods  as  will 
make  them  fear  him,  since  one  or  the  other  (or  both)  is  absolutely 
necessary  ;  but  Alexander  and  Caesar,  those  renowned  generals,  re- 
ceived more  faithful  service,  and  performed  greater  actions,  by 
means  of  the  love  their  soldiers  bore  them,  than  they  could  possibly 
have  done,  if,  instead  of  being  beloved  and  respected,  they  had 
been  hated  and  feared  by  those  they  commanded." 

The  ship  lay  between  Portsmouth  and  the  Isle  of  Wight  for  some 
days,  during  which  Franklin  made  incursions  into  the  island,  visit- 
ing Cowes  and  Carisbrook  Castle,  which  he  describes.  But  here 
again  it  is  the  thoughtful  remark  that  arrests  the  reader's  attention. 
This  is  one : 

"  All  this  afternoon  I  spent  agreeably  enough  at  the  draft-board. 
It  is  a  game  I  much  delight  in ;  but  it  requires  a  clear  head,  and  un- 
disturbed ;  and  the  persons  playing,  if  they  would  play  well,  ought 
not  much  to  regard  the  consequences  of  the  game,  for  that  diverts 
and  withdraws  the  attention  of  the  mind  from  the  game  itself,  and 
makes  the  player  liable  to  make  many  false  open  moves  ;  and  I  will 
venture  to  lay  it  down  for  an  infallible  rule,  that,  if  two  pei;sons 
equal  in  judgment,  play  for  a  considerable  sum,  he  that  loves  money 
most  shall  lose  ;  his  anxiety  for  the  success  of  the  game  confounds 
him.  Courage  is  almost  as  requisite  for  the  good  conduct  of  this 
game  as  in  a  real  battle  ;  for,  if  the  player  imagines  himself  opposed 
by  one  that  is  much  his  superior  in  skill,  his  mind  is  so  intent  on  the 
defensive  part,  that  an  advantage  passes  unobserved." 

Another  sapient  observation  was  called  forth  by  the  account  which 
the  keeper  of  Carisbrook  Castle  gave  him  of  a  former  governor  of 
the  Isle  of  Wight : 

"  At  the  death  of  this  governor,"  says  young  Wisdom,  "  it  ap- 
peared he  was  a  great  villain,  and  a  great  politician  ;  there  was  no 
crime  so  damnable  which  he  would  stick  at  in  the  execution  of  his 


AGED    20.]  THE    VOYAGE    HOME.  147 

designs,  and  yet  lie  had  the  art  of  covering  all  so  thick,  that  with 
almost  all  men  in  general,  while  he  lived,  he  passed  for  a  saint. 
What  surprised  me  was,  that  the  silly  old  fellow,  the  keeper  of  the 
castle,  who  remembered  him  governor,  should  have  so  true  a  notion 
of  his  character  as  I  perceived  he  had.  In  short,  I  believe  it  is  im- 
possible for  a  man,  though  he  has  all  the  cunning  of  a  devil,  to  live 
and  die  a  villain,  and  yet  conceal  it  so  well  as  to  carry  the  name  of 
an  honest  fellow  to  the  grave  with  him,  but  someone,  by  some  acci- 
dent or  other,  shall  discover  him.  Truth  and  sincerity  have  a  cer- 
tain distinguishing  native  luster  about  them,  which  cannot  be  per- 
fectly counterfeited ;  they  are  like  fire  and  flame,  that  cannot  be 
painted." 

For  many  days  longer  the  ship  was  near  the  Isle  of  Wight, 
weighing  anchor,  casting  anchor,  tacking  across  the  Solent,  at- 
tempting to  get  to  sea,  and  being  blov/n  back  again  to  Spithead. 
One  sorry  adventure  which  befell  a  party  of  the  passengers  at  the 
little  town  of  Yarmouth,  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  Franklin  relates  at 
some  length.  Returning  to  Yarmouth  after  dark,  from  a  long  walk 
into  the  island,  they  found  themselves  on  the  wrong  side  of  the 
harbor  ;  they  had  headed  and  crossed  the  creek,  the  expansion  of 
which  forms  the  harbor.  They  were  directed  to  a  ferry  near  the 
mouth  of  the  creek,  where  a  boy  would  rovf  them  over  to  the 
town. 

"  But,"  says  Franklin,  "  when  we  came  to  the  house  the  lazy 
whelp  was  in  bed,  and  refused  to  rise  and  put  us  over  ;  upon  which 
we  went  down  to  the  water-side,  with  a  design  to  take  his  boat, 
and  go  over  by  ourselves.  We  found  it  very  difficult  to  get  the 
boat,  it  being  fastened  to  a  stake,  and  the  tide  risen  near  fifty  yards 
beyond  it ;  I  stripped  all  to  my  shirt  to  wade  up  to  it ;  but  missing 
the  causeway,  which  was  imder  water,  I  got  up  to  my  middle  in 
mud.  At  last  I  came  to  the  stake ;  but  to  my  great  disappoint- 
ment, found  she  was  locked  and  chained.  I  endeavored  to  draw 
the  staple  with  one  of  the  thole-pins,  but  in  vain ;  I  tiled  to  pull  up 
the  stake,  but  to  no  purpose  ;  so  that,  after  an  hour's  fatigue  and 
trouble  in  the  wet  and  mud,  I  was  forced  to  return  without  the 
boat. 

"  We  had  no  money  in  our  pockets,  and  therefore  began  to  con- 
clude to  pass  the  night  in  some  haystack,  though  the  wind  blew 
very  cold  and  very  hard.     In  the  midst  of  these  troubles  one  of  us 


148  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l726. 

recollected  that  he  had  a  horse-shoe  in  his  pocket,  which  he  found 
in  his  walk,  and  asked  me  if  I  could  not  wrench  the  staple  out  witli  i 
that.  I  took  it,  went,  tried,  and  succeeded,  and  brought  the  boat 
ashore  to  them.  Now  we  rejoiced,  and  all  got  in,  and,  when  I  had 
dressed  myself,  we  put  oiF.  But  the  worst  of  all  our  troubles  was 
to  come  yet ;  for,  it  being  high  water  and  the  tide  over  all  the 
banks,  though  it  was  moonlight  we  could  not  discern  the  channel 
of  the  creek ;  but  rowing  heedlessly  straight  forward,  when  we 
were  got  about  half  way  over,  we  found  ourselves  aground  on  a 
mud  bank ;  and,  striving  to  row  her  off  by  putting  our  oars  in  the 
mud,  we  broke  one,  and  there  stuck  fast,  not  having  four  inches 
water.  We  were  now  in  the  utmost  perplexity,  not  knowing  what  in 
the  world  to  do ;  we  could  not  tell  whether  the  tide  was  rising  or 
falling ;  but  at  length  we  plainly  perceived  it  was  ebb,  and  we  could 
feel  no  deeper  water  within  the  reach  of  our  oar. 

"  It  was  hard  to  lie  in  an  open  boat  all  night,  exposed  to  the 
wind  and  Aveather ;  but  it  was  worse  to  think  how  foolish  we  should 
look  in  the  morning,  when  the  owner  of  the  boat  should  catch  us 
in  that  condition  where  we  must  be  exposed  to  the  view  of  all  the 
town.  After  we  had  strove  and  struggled  for  half  an  hour  and 
more,  we  gave  all  over,  and  sat  down  with  our  hands  before  us, 
despairing  to  get  off;  for,  if  the  tide  had  left  us  we  had  been  never 
the  nearer  ;  we  must  have  sat  in  the  boat,  as  the  mud  was  too  deep 
for  us  to  walk  ashore  through  it,  being  up  to  our  necks.  At  last 
we  bethought  ourselves  of  some  means  of  escaping,  and  two  of  us 
stripped  and  got  out,  and  thereby  lightening  the  boat,  we  drew  her 
upon  our  knees  near  fifty  yards  into  deeper  water ;  and  then  with 
much  ado,  having  but  one  oar,  we  got  safe  ashore  under  the  fort ; 
and,  having  dressed  ourselves  and  tied  the  man's  boat,  we  went 
with  great  joy  to  the  Queen's  Head,  where  we  left  our  compan- 
ions, whom  w^e  found  waiting  for  us,  though  it  was  very  late.  Our 
boat  being  gone  on  board,  we  were  obliged  to  lie  ashore  all  night ; 
and  thus  ended  our  walk." 

After  beating  about  in  the  channel  for  nearly  three  weeks,  the 
Berkshire  lost  the  laud,  and  stood  out  into  the  Atlantic.  The  voy- 
age was  as  monotonous  as  it  was  long.  Scarcely  an  incident  occur- 
red which  was  not  usual  or  trivial ;  yet  our  young  voyager  abounded 
in  most  sage  reflections. 

One  of  the  passengers,  for  example,  was  accused  of  marking  the 


AGED    20.]  THE   VOYAGE   HOME.  149 

cards,  with  a  design  to  cheat.  A  formal  cotirt  of  justice  was 
organized  for  his  trial,  at  which  the  principal  witness  was  a  Dutch- 
man, who  could  speak  but  a  few  words  of  English.  The  Dutch- 
man testified  that,  while  the  vest  of  the  passengers  were  ashore,  he 
saw  the  accused  mark  the  court  cards  on  the  back  with  a  pen. 
Franklin  mused  within  himself,  why  the  rascal  should  have  dared  to 
perpetrate  the  offense  in  the  Dutchman's  presence.  He  achieved,  at 
length,  the  following  solution: 

"  I  have  sometimes  observed,  that  we  are  apt  to  fancy  the  person 
that  cannot  speak  intelligibly  to  us,  proportionably  stupid  in  under- 
standing, and,  when  we  speak  two  or  three  words  of  English  to 
a  foreigner,  it  is  louder  than  ordinary,  as  if  we  thought  him  deaf, 
and  that  he  had  lost  the  use  of  his  ears  as  well  as  his  tongue.  Some- 
thing like  this  I  imagine  might  be  the  case  of  Mr.  G ^n ;  he  fan- 
cied the  Dutchman  could  not  see  what  he  was  about,  because  he 
could  not  understand  English,  and  therefore  boldly  did  it  before  his 
face." 

But  this  was  not  the  end  of  his  deep  meditations  on  this  case. 
The  evidence  against  the  prisoner  being  conclusive,  the  jury  brought 
him  in  guilty,  and  the  court  sentenced  him  "  to  be  carried  up  to  the 
round  top,  and  made  fast  there,  in  view  of  all  the  ship's  company, 
during  the  space  of  three  hours,  that  being  the  place  where  the  act 
was  committed,  and  to  pay  a  fine  of  two  bottles  of  brandy."  The 
prisoner  refusing  to  submit  to  the  sentence  of  the  court,  "  one  of 
the  sailors  stepped  up  aloft  and  let  down  a  rope  to  us,  which  we, 
with  much  struggling,  made  fast  about  his  middle,  and  hoisted  him 
up  into  the  air,  sprawling,  by  main  force.  We  let  him  hang,  cursing 
and  swearing,  for  near  a  quarter  of  an  hour ;  but,  at  length,  he  cry- 
ing out  murder,  and  looking  black  in  the  face,  the  rope  being  over- 
taut  about  his  middle,  we  thought  it  proper  to  let  him  down  again, 
and  our  mess  have  excommunicated  him  till  he  pay  his  fine,  refusing 
either  to  play,  eat,  drink,  or  converse  with  him."  For  five  days 
the  man  held  out,  but  on  the  sixth  day  he  paid  his  fine,  and  was 
admitted  again  to  the  fellowship  of  the  mess. 

Upon  this  event,  the  youthful  sage  largely  descants.  "  Man,"  he 
observes,  "  is  a  sociable  being,  and  it  is,  for  aught  I  know,  one  of 
the  worst  of  punishments  to  be  excluded  from  society.  I  have  read 
abundance  of  fine  things  on  the  subject  of  solitude,  and  I  know  'tis 
a  common  boast  in  the  mouths  of  those  that  affect  to  be  thought 


160  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKUN.  [l726. 

wise,  that  they  are  never  less  alone  than  when  alone.  I  acknowledge 
solitude  an  agreeable  refreshment  to  a  busy  mind  ;  but,  were  these 
thinking  people  obliged  to  be  always  alone,  I  am  apt  to  think  they 
would  quickly  find  their  very  being  insupportable  to  them.  I  have 
heard  of  a  gentleman,  who  underwent  seven  years'  close  confinement 
in  the  Bastile,  at  Paris.  He  was  a  man  of  sense;  he  was  a  thinking 
man  ;  but,  being  deprived  of  all  conversation,  to  what  purpose 
should  he  think?  for  he  was  denied  even  the  instruments  of  expres- 
sing his  thoughts  in  wn*iting.  There  is  no  burden  so  grievous  to 
man  as  time  that  he  knows  not  how  to  dispose  of.  He  was  forced 
at  last  to  have  recourse  to  this  invention ;  he  daily  scattered  pieces 
of  paper  about  the  floor  of  his  little  room,  and  then  employed  him- 
self in  picking  them  up  and  sticking  them  in  rows  and  figures  on 
the  arm  of  his  elbow-chair ;  and  he  used  to  tell  his  friends,  after  his 
release,  that  he  verily  believed,  that  if  he  had  not  taken  this  method 
he  should  have  lost  his  senses.  One  of  the  philosophers,  I  think 
it  was  Plato,  used  to  say,  that  he  had  rather  be  the  veriest  stupid 
block  in  nature,  than  the  possessor  of  all  knowledge  without  some 
intelligent  being  to  communicate  it  to." 

Pursuing  this  train  of  reflection,  he  discovers  the  reason,  as  he 
thinks,  of  the  intolerable  tedium  of  a  sea-voyage,  which  ,is  solitude 
aggravated  by  the  close  proximity  of  uncongenial  persons.  "  Our 
company,"  he  continues,  "  is,  in  general,  very  unsuitably  mixed,  to 
keep  up  the  pleasure  and  spirit  of  conversation  ;  and  if  there  are 
one  or  two  pair  of  us  that  can  sometimes  entertain  one  another  for 
half  an  hour  agreeably,  yet  perhaps  we  are  seldom  in  the  humor 
for  it  together.  I  rise  in  the  morning  and  read  for  an  hour  or  two, 
perhaps,  and  then  reading  grows  tiresome.  Want  of  exercise  occa- 
sions want  of  appetite,  so  that  eating  and  drinking  afford  but  httle 
pleasure.  I  tire  myself  with  playing  at  drafts,  then  I  go  to  cards  ; 
nay,  there  is  no  play  so  trifling  or  childish,  but  we  fly  to  it  for  enter- 
tainment. A  contrary  wind,  I  know  not  how,  puts  us  all  out  of 
good  humor ;  we  grow  sullen,  silent,  and  reserved,  and  fret  at 
each  other  upon  every  little  occasion.  'Tis  a  common  opinion 
among  the  ladies,  that,  if  a  man  is  ill-natured,  he  infallibly  discov- 
ers it  when  he  is  in  liquor.  But  I,  who  have  known  many  instances 
to  the  contrary,  will  teach  them  a  more  effectual  method  to  discover 
the  natural  temper  and  disposition  of  their  humble  servants.  Let 
the  ladies  make  one  long  sea-voyage  with  them,  and,  if  they  have 


AGED    20.]  THE    VOYAGE    HOME. 


151 


the  least  spark  of  ill-nature  in  them,  and  conceal  it  to  the  end  of  the 
voyage,  I  will  forfeit  all  my  pretensions  to  their  favor." 

The  remarks  of  the  voyager  upon  the  dolphins,  flying-fish,  birds, 
sliarks,  pilot-fish,  sea-weed,  eclipses,  and  whatever  other  natural 
phenomena  attracted  his  attention,  show  that,  at  the  earliest  period 
of  his  life,  as  to  his  life's  end,  he  was  one  of  those  who,  in  this  world 
J^f  wonders,  live  with  their  eyes  open.  One  example:  he  picked  up 
out  of  the  sea,  as  the  ship  was  nearing  the  American  coast,  some 
branches  of  sea-weed,  one  of  which  attracted  his  particular  atten- 
tion. 

"  It  had  a  leaf,"  he  says,  "  about  three-quarters  of  an  inch  long, 
indented  like  a  saw,  and  a  small  yellow  berry,  filled  with  nothing 
but  wind ;  besides  which  it  bore  a  fruit  of  the  animal  kind,  very  sur- 
prising to  see.  It  was  a  small  shell-fish  like  a  heart,  the  stalk  by 
which  it  proceeded  from  the  branch  being  partly  of  a  gristly  kind. 
Upon  this  one  branch  of  the  weed,  there  were  near  forty  of  these 
vegetable  animals ;  the  smallest  of  them,  near  the  end,  contained  a 
substance  somewhat  like  an  oyster,  but  the  larger  were  visibly  ani- 
mated, opening  their  shells  every  moment,  and  thrusting  out  a  set  of 
unformed  claws,  not  unlike  those  of  a  crab  ;  but  the  inner  part  was 
still  a  kind  of  soft  jelly.  Observing  the  weed  more  narrowly,  I  spied 
a  very  small  crab  crawling  among  it,  about  as  big  as  the  head  of  a  ten- 
penny  nail,  and  of  a  yellowish  color,  like  the  weed  itself.  This  gave 
me  some  reason  to  think,  that  he  was  a  native  of  the  branch  ;  that 
he  had  not  long  since  been  in  the  same  condition  with  the  rest  of 
those  little  embryos  that  appeared  in  the  shells,  this  being  the 
method  of  their  generation  ;  and  that,  consequently,  all  the  rest  of 
this  odd  kind  of  fruit  might  be  crabs  in  due  time." 

He  kept  the  weed  in  salt  water,  changing  the  water  every  day, 
and  drew  in  from  the  ocean  more  of  the  crab-producing  branches ; 
on  one  of  which,  he  found  "  three  living  perfect  crabs,  each  less  than 
the  nail  of  my  little  finger."  He  adds  :  "  One  of  them  had  some- 
thing particularly  observable,  to  wit,  a  thin  piece  of  the  white  shell 
which  I  before  noticed  as  their  covering  while  they  remained  in  the 
condition  of  embryos,  sticking  close  to  his  natural  shell  upon  his 
back.  This  sufficiently  confirms  me  in  my  opinion  of  the  manner 
of  their  generation.  I  have  put  this  remarkable  crab  with  a  piece 
of  gulf-weed,  shells,  etc.,  into  a  glass  phial  filled  with  salt  water 
(for  want  of  spirits  of  wine),  in  hopes  to  preserve  the  curiositj;^  till 


162  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1726. 

I  come  on  shore."  "  It  is  likely,"  he  says  in  another  part  of  his 
diary,  "  Nature  has  provided  this  hard  shell  to  secure  them  till 
their  own  proper  shell  has  acquired  a  sufficient  hardness,  which, 
once  perfected,  they  quit  their  old  habitation  and  venture  abroad 
safe  in  their  own  strength.  The  various  changes  that  the  silk- 
w^orms,  butterflies,  and  several  other  insects  go  through,  make  such 
alterations  and  metamorphoses  not  improbable." 

How  like  all  this  is  to  young  Jonathan  Edwards's  "  wondrous  way 
of  the  working  of  the  spider,*  Different  as  they  were  in  other 
particulars,  these  two  ablest  of  colonial  Americans  were  alike  in  pos- 
sessing a  magnificent  talent  for  the  observation  of  nature. 

Edwards !  what  a  career  had  been  his,  what  discoveries  had  he 
made,  if  he  had  obeyed  God,  instead  of  Calvin !  Who  can  read 
his  early  writings  upon  science  without  admiration  and  sorrow  ? 
Edwards  was  three  years  older  than  Franklin,  and  doubtless  deriv- 
ed his  youthful  impulse  toward  the  study  of  nature,  as  Franklin 
did  his,  from  the  newly  awakened  interest  in  science  that  prevailed 
in  Europe. 

On  the  voyage,  Franklin  reflected  much  upon  the  errors  of  his 
past  life,  and  drew  up  a  plan  for  the  regulation  of  his  future  con- 
duct. This  plan  was  long  supposed  to  be  lost,  but  there  are  reasons 
for  concluding  that  a  set  of  rules  published  in  a  Philadelphia  Maga- 
zine, many  years  ago,  is  the  missing  document ;  or,  at  least,  a  part 
of  it.  They  were  copied  from  a  paper  in  Franklin's  hand.  The 
rules  are  prefaced  by  a  remark  quite  in  the  manner  of  our  wise 
young  voyager. 

"  Those  who  write  of  the  art  of  poetry,"  says  Franklin,  "  teach 
us,  that,  if  we  would  write  what  may  be  worth  reading,  we  ought 
always,  before  we  begin,  to  form  a  regular  plan  and  design  of  our 
piece  ;  otherwise  we  shall  be  in  danger  of  incongruity.  I  am  apt  to 
think  it  is  the  same  as  to  life.  I  have  never  fixed  a  regular  design 
in  life,  by  which  means  it  has  been  a  confused  variety  of  different 
scenes.  I  am  now  entering  upon  a  new  one  ;  let  me,  therefore,  make 
some  resolutions,  and  form  some  scheme  of  action,  that  henceforth  I 
may  live  in  all  respects  like  a  rational  creature. 

"1.  It  is  necessary  for  me  to  be  extremely  frugal  for  some  time, 
till  I  have  paid  what  I  owe. 

"  2.  To  endeavor  to  speak  truth  in  every  instance,  to  give  no- 

*  Dvviglit's  "Life  of  Jonathan  F^wfvrd!^,"  p.  23. 


4GED    20. j  THE    VOYAGE   HOME.  153 

body  expectations  that  are  not  likely  to  be  answered,  but  aim  at 
sincerity  in  every  word  and  action ;  the  most  amiable  excellence  in 
a  rational  being. 

"  3.  To  apply  myself  industriously  to  whatever  business  I  take  in 
hand,  and  not  divert  my  mind  from  my  business  by  any  foolish  pro^ 
ject  of  growing  suddenly  rich  ;  for  industry  and  patience  are  the 
surest  means  of  plenty. 

"  4.  I  resolve  to  speak  ill  of  no  man  whatever,  not  even  in  a  mat- 
ter of  truth ;  but  rather  by  some  means  excuse  the  faults  I  hear 
charged  upon  others,  and,  upon  proper  occasions,  speak  all  the  good 
I  know  of  everybody." 

He  did  not  stop  here.  The  conduct  of  his  life  was  frequently  the 
subject  of  his  meditations  from  this  time ;  with  what  results  we 
shall  see  ere  long. 

The  Atlantic  Ocean,  at  that  day,  was  indeed  a  waste  of  waters. 
The  Berkshire  had  been  at  sea  fifty  days  before  her  passengers  saw 
another  vessel.  The  whole  company  were  thrilled  with  delight 
when,  at  length,  they  not  only  saw  a  friendly  ship,  but  came  near 
enough  to  speak  to  her.  Fi-anklin  himself  was  deeply  moved  at  the 
sight.  "  She  was  the  Snow  from  Dublin,"  he  wrote,  "  bound  to  Ncav 
York,  having  upwards  of  fifty  servants  on  board,  of  both  sexes ; 
they  all  appeared  upon  deck,  and  seemed  very  much  pleased  at  the 
sight  of  us.  There  is  really  something  strangely  cheering  to  the 
spirits  in  the  meeting  of  a  ship  at  sea,  containing  a  society  of  crea- 
tures of  the  same  species  and  in  the  same  circumstances  with  our- 
selves, after  we  had  been  long  separated  and  excommunicated,  as  it 
were,  from  the  rest  of  mankind.  My  heart  fluttered  in  my  breast 
with  joy,  when  I  saw  so  many  human  countenances,  and  I  could 
scarce  refrain  from  that  kind  of  laughter,  which  proceeds  from  some 
degree  of  inward  pleasure.  *  *  *  ^e  reckon  ourselves 
in  a  kind  of  paradise,  when  we  consider  how  they  live,  confined  and 
stifled  up  with  such  a  lousy,  stinking  rabble,  in  this  sultry  latitude." 

Sixteen  days  after,  to  the  still  greater  joy  of  all  on  board,  the 
look  out  at  the  Berkshire  mast-head  shouted.  Land  !  "  I  could  not 
discern  it  as  soon  as  the  rest,"  Franklin  writes  ;  "  my  eyes  were 
dimmed  with  the  suffusion  of  two  small  drops  of  joy."  Two  days 
later,  at  eight  in  the  evening,  the  ship  cast  anchor  in  the  Delaware, 
six  miles  below  Philadelphia.  Franklin  concludes  his  journal  with 
these  words :  "  Some  young  Philadelphians  happening  to  be  out 
7" 


154  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FBANKLIN.  [l72G. 

upon  their  pleasure  in  a  boat,  came  on  board,  and  offered  to  take 
us  up  with  them.  We  accepted  of  their  kind  proposal,  and  about 
ten  o'clock  landed  at  Philadelphia,  heartily  congratulating  each 
other  upon  our  having  happily  completed  so  tedious  and  dangerous 
a  voyage.     Thank  God  !" 

The  Philadelphia  newspaper  chronicled  the  arrival  of  the  ship  in 
a  single  line : 

"Entered  inwards,  ship  Barkshire^  Henry  Clark^  from  Lon- 
don." * 

There  is  no  subsequent  allusion  either  to  the  ship,  her  passengers, 
or  her  news.  The  editors  then  published  the  foreign  news  in  the 
order  in  which  the  events  occurred.  The  news  by  former  ships 
had  to  be  all  printed  and  got  out  of  the  way  before  the  intelligence 
brought  by  later  arrivals  was  taken  in  hand. 


CHAPTER  Xm. 

THE   JUNTO. 


Soon  after  landing,  Franklin  met,  in  the  streets  of  Philadelphia, 
Sir  William  Keith,  who  had  been  recently  deposed  from  office.  Keith 
had  just  virtue  enough  to  look  a  little  ashamed  at  seeing  tlie  youth 
he  had  so  shamefully  wronged,  and  passed  by  without  speaking. 
For  nearly  a  quarter  of  a  century  longer,  this  man  lagged  superflu- 
ous on  the  scene,  poor  and  neglected,  striving  to  earn  a  little  money 
by  writing  histories  of  the  colonies.  He  died  in  London,  in  1749, 
aged  eighty.  His  wife  remained  in  Philadelphia,  and  lived  many 
years,  secluded  and  destitute,  in  a  little  wooden  tenement  in  the 
outskirts  of  the  town.f 

Unfaithful  as  Franklin  had  been  to  Miss  Read,  he  had  not  for- 
gotten her.  Toward  the  close  of  his  stay  in  London,  when  he  had 
escaped  the  fascinating  Ralph,  and  Franklin  began  to  be  himself 
again,  his  affection  appears  to  have   revived ;  for  he  wrote,  long 

*  "  American  Weekly  Mercury,"  Oct.  13, 1726.      t  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  ii.,  274. 


AGED    20.]  THE    JUNTO.  155 

after,  that  it  was  "  the  cords  of  love"  that  had  "  drawn  him  back 
from  England  to  Philadelphia."  He  retm-ned  to  find  the  lady  mar- 
ried and  miserable ;  and  both  through  his  fault.  Despairing  of  his 
return,  her  mother  and  her  other  relations  had  persuaded  her  to 
marry  "  one  Rogers,  a  potter,"  to  use  Franklin's  own  language. 
He  was  an  excellent  potfer ;  which  was  the  inducement  to  Mrs. 
Read.  But  he  proved  to  be  a  worthless  fellow,  and  it  was  soon 
suspected  that  he  had  another  wife.  Deborah  Read,  who  had  never 
lived  happily  with  him,  returned  to  her  mother,  and  resumed  her 
maiden  name,  a  sorrowful  woman.  The  potter  ran  away  from  his 
creditors  in  the  following  year,  and  went  to  the  West  Indies,  whence 
came,  not  long  after,  a  rumor  of  his  death. 

Keimer  appeared  to  have  greatly  thriven  during  the  absence  of 
his  journeyman.  He  had  removed  to  a  better  house  ;  his  shop  was 
well  supplied  with  stationery,  and  his  printing-office  with  new  type, 
He  employed  several  hands,  and  seemed  to  have  a  great  deal  of 
business. 

Our  young  friend  was  soon  at  work.  Mr.  Denham  took  a  store  in 
Water  Street,  and  opened  for  sale  his  large  stock  of  goods.  His 
clerk,  entering  upon  his  new  vocation  with  all  his  old  ardor  and  dili- 
gence, soon  became  an  adept  in  book-keeping,  and  an  expert  sales- 
man. He  loved  and  respected  his  employer,  who,  in  turn,  had  a 
sincere  affection  for  his  clerk,  and  treated  him  with  paternal  kind- 
ness. They  lived  in  the  same  house,  and  went  on  together  so  hap- 
pily that  Franklin  seemed  destined  to  pass  his  days  as  a  Philadel- 
phia merchant.  There  was  every  probability  of  his  becoming,  ere 
long,  a  partner  in  the  concern,  and  of  finally  succeeding  to  Mr. 
Denham's  place  at  its  head.  Well  content  with  his  employment, 
his  employer,  and  his  prospects,  his  only  unhappiness  sprang  from 
the  recollection  of  his  still  unpaid  debt  to  Mr.  Vernon,  and  from 
reflecting  upon  his  infidelity  to  Miss  Read,  and  its  bitter  conse- 
quences. 

A  quaint,  old-fashioned,  but  very  kind  letter,  which  he  wrote  to 
his  youngest  and  favorite  sister  Jane,  soon-  after  his  return  to 
Philadelphia,  is  the  earliest  of  his  letters  that  has  been  preserved, 
if  we  except  the  short  note  to  Sir  Hans  Sloane,  of  1725.  Jane 
Franklin  was  then  fifteen.  A  captain  of  a  Boston  vessel  had  given 
him  a  glowing  account  of  her  virtues  and  her  charms,  and  he  re- 
solved to  send  her  back  a  present.     He  tells  her  that  he  was  puz- 


16^  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l727. 

zled  to  select  a  suitable  gift,  as  he  had  heard  she  had  grown  a  cele- 
brated beauty.  "  I  had  almost,"  he  wrote,  "  determined  on  a  tea- 
table  ;  but  when  I  considered,  that  the  character  of  a  good  house- 
wife was  far  preferable  to  that  of  being  only  a  pretty  gentlewoman, 
I  concluded  to  send  you  a  spinning-wheel^  which  I  hope  you  will 
accept  as  a  small  token  of  my  sincere  love  and  aftection."  His 
letter  consists  of  two  short  paragraphs :  the  first  of  which  relates 
to  the  present,  the  second  gives  the  young  beauty  a  little  brotherly 
advice,  characteristic  of  the  period  :  "  Sister,  farewell,  and  remem- 
ber that  modesty,  as  it  makes  the  most  homely  virgin  amiable  and 
charming,  so  the  want  of  it  infalhbly  renders  the  most  perfect 
beauty  disagreeable  and  odious.  But,  when  that  brightest  of 
female  virtues  shines  among  other  perfections  of  body  and  mind  in 
the  same  person,  it  makes  the  woman  more  lovely  than  an  angel. 
Excuse  this  freedom,  and  use  the  same  with  me.  I  am,  dear 
Jenny,  your  loving  brother."  Among  the  very  last  efforts  of  his 
pen,  were  generous,  sprightly,  and  consoling  letters  to  this  same 
sister. 

Promising  as  were  the  prospects  of  Franklin  during  the  first 
few  months  after  his  return,  his  mercantile  career  was  destined  to  a 
speedy  and  abrupt  termination.  Early  in  February,  1727,  four 
months  after  the  opening  of  the  store,  Mr.  Denham  and  himself 
were  both  taken  seriously  ill.  Franklin's  disease,  the  pleurisy, 
brought  him  to  the  verge  of  the  grave.  "  I  suffered  a  good  deal," 
he  records,  "  gave  up  the  point  in  my  own  mind,  and  was  at  the 
time  rather  disappointed  when  I  found  myself  recovering ;  regret- 
ting, in  some  degree,  that  I  must  now,  some  time  or  other,  have  all 
that  disagreeable  work  to  go  over  again."  Mr.  Denham  struggled 
long  with  his  complaint,  but  sunk  under  it  at  last.  On  his  death-bed 
ho  signified  his  desire  to  bequeath  his  young  friend  a  small  legacy 
as  a  token  of  his  good-will.  The  store  was  taken  in  charge  by  the 
executors,  and  Franklin  was  without  employment. 

His  first  thought  was  to  find  another  clerkship.  Not  succeeding 
in  this,  he  reluctantly  accepted  an  offer  of  large  wages  from 
Keimer,  who  wished  him  to  superintend  the  printing-office,  while 
himself  took  charge  of  the  stationery-shop.  In  London,  where 
Keimer  had  formerly  lived,  and  where  he  had  a  wife  then  living, 
Franklin  had  heard  so  bad  a  character  of  the  man,  that  he  was 
unwilling  to  have  any  thing  more  to  do  with  him.     But  necessity 


AGED   21.]  THE   JUNTO.  157 

knows  no  law,  and  he  found  himself  again  in  Keimer's  chaotic 
printing-office,  striving  to  reduce  it  to  order.  Keimer  had  engaged 
five  hands,  at  very  low  wages,  who  were  unacquainted  with  the 
trade,  and  whom  the  new  foreman  was  expected  to  convert  into  effi- 
cient printers.  One  of  these  was  John,  "  a  wild  Irishman,"  brought 
up  to  no  business,  whose  services,  for  four  years,  Keimer  had 
bought  of  the  captain  who  had  brought  him  over.  John  saved  the 
new  foreman  a  world  of  trouble  by  running  away,  a  practice  to 
which  bought  servants  were  much  addicted.  Another  of  Keimer's 
men  was  Hugh  Meredith,  an  honest  countryman,  a  man  of  sense, 
experience,  and  reading,  but  given  to  drinking,  and  not  fond  of 
his  new  trade.  Another  was  Stephen  Potts,  also  a  countryman, 
witty,  capable,  but  not  too  industrious.  Another  was  George 
Webb,  a  young  scapegrace  from  Oxford  University,  who  having 
spent  all  his  money  in  London,  had  procured  a  passage  to  America, 
by  binding  himself  to  serve  for  four  years.  Keimer  had  bought 
his  time  of  the  captain  of  the  ship.  He  was  full  of  wit  and  good 
nature,  but  extremely  idle  and  thoughtless.  To  this  catalogue 
must  be  added  David  Harry,  an  apprentice  from  the  country,  who 
served  the  rest  in  the  capacity  of  devil. 

Franklin,  who  had  the  art  of  being  always  cheerful,  was  soon  at 
home  among  Keimer's  merry  men ;  and  teaching  them  something 
new  in  their  vocation  every  day,  he  stood  high  in  their  esteem.  He 
even  managed  to  cast  type,  from  his  London  recollections  of  the 
process.  He  cut  small  engravings,  made  the  ink,  assisted  in  book- 
binding, served  as  warehouse-man,  and  was  of  Keimer's  establish- 
ment the  vital  principle.  The  green  hands  became  less  and  less  in- 
expert ;  order  emerged  from  chaos,  and  Keimer  was  in  a  fair  way  of 
founding  a  profitable  business.  The  foreman  prevailed  upon  Hugh 
Meredith  to  forego  his  dram-drinking  for  a  time  :  to  the  great  joy 
of  his  father,  a  man  of  some  consideration  in  the  colony.  Frank- 
lin was  especially  fortunate  in  having  two  days  in  every  week  for 
study,  as  Keimer  still  persisted  in  keeping  holy  the  last  day  of  the 
week. 

About  this  time  it  was,  that  he  formed  his  fellow-workmen,  and 
a  few  of  his  young  friends  in  the  town,  into  that  celebrated  club. 
The  Junto,  which,  for  forty  years,  was  a  means  of  happiness  and 
benefit  to  all  who  belonged  to  it.  Its  first  members  were  eleven 
in  number  :  the  four  printers,  Benjamin  Franklin,  Hugh  Meredith, 


158  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [1727. 

Stephen  Potts,  and  George  Webb,  all  very  "  clubbable  men ;"  Joseph 
Breintnal,  an  engrosser  of  deeds,  ingenious,  good-natured,  exces- 
Bively  fond  of  poetry,  himself  a  tolerable  versifier  ;  Thomas  God- 
frey, a  self-taught  mathematician,  of  real  ability,  but  too  precise 
and  argumentative  for  a  club ;  Nicholas  Scull,  a  surveyor,  who 
loved  books  and  wrote  verses ;  William  Parsons,  a  shoemaker  by 
trade,  a  well-read  man,  afterwards  surveyor-general  of  Pennsyl- 
vania ;  William  Maugridge,  a  carpenter,  extremely  skillful  in  his 
trade,  a  solid,  sensible  man ;  Robert  Grace,  a  young  gentleman  of 
some  fortune,  whom  Franklin  loved,  generous,  witty,  "  a  lover  of 
punning  and  of  his  friends ;"  William  Coleman,  then  a  merchant's 
clerk,  afterwards  a  leading  merchant,  and  judge,  of  whom  Franklin 
says,  "  he  had  the  coolest,  clearest  head,  the  best  heart,  and  the 
exactest  morals,  of  almost  any  man  I  ever  met  with."  These  were 
the  original  Junto,  long  known  in  Philadelphia  as  The  LEATHEESf 
Apeon  Club,  from  the  number  of  journeymen  mechanics  that  be- 
longed to  it.  The  last  century  was  the  era  of  clubs.  But  of  all  the 
clubs  whose  peculiarities  have  been  recorded,  this  Junto  of  Phila- 
delphia mechanics,  was  one  of  the  most  sensible,  polite,  and  im- 
proving. 

It  is  evident  from  the  rules  and  usages  of  the  Junto,  that  Frank- 
lin derived  the  plan  of  it  from  his  boyish  recollections  of  Cotton 
Mather's  Benefit  Societies.*  The  purpose  of  the  Junto  was  similar 
to  that  proposed  by  Mather — the  improvement  of  its  members  and 
their  fellow-citizens  in  virtue,  knowledge,  and  practical  wisdom. 
But  Franklin's  mode  of  eflfecting  these  results  difiered  from  Math- 
er's as  much  as  the  two  men  difl^ered  in  character  and  opinion.  A 
candidate  for  admission  to  the  Junto  was  obliged  to  declare,  stand- 
ing, with  one  hand  laid  upon  his  breast,  that  he  had  "  no  particular 
disrespect"  for  any  member  of  the  Junto ;  that  he  loved  mankind 
in  general,  of  whatsoever  profession  or  religion ;  that  he  thought 
no  person  ought  to  be  harmed  in  his  body,  name,  or  goods  for 
mere  speculative  opinion,  or  for  his  external  way  of  worship ;  that 
he  loved  the  truth  for  the  truth's  sake,  and  would  endeavor  impar- 
tially to  find  and  receive  it,  and  communicate  it  to  others.  The 
club  met  every  Friday  evening,  when  twenty-four  queries  were 
read,  "  a  pause  between  each  while  one  might  fill  and  drink  a  glass 
of  wine."    These  questions  were  the  following : 

*  Soe  page  47  of  tliis  volume. 


AGED  21.]  THE   JUNTO.  159 

"Have  you  read  over  these  queries  this  morning,  in  order  to 
consider  what  you  might  have  to  offer  the  Junto  touching  any  one 
of  them  ?  viz. : 

"  1.  Have  you  met  with  any  thing  in  the  author  you  last  read 
remarkable,  or  suitable  to  be  communicated  to  the  Junto,  particu- 
larly in  history,  morality,  poetry,  physic,  travels,  mechanic  arts,  or 
other  parts  of  knowledge  ? 

"  2.  What  new  story  have  you  lately  heard  agreeable  for  telling 
in  conversation  ? 

"  3.  Hath  any  citizen  in  your  knowledge  failed  in  his  business 
lately,  and  what  have  you  heard  of  the  cause  ? 

"  4.  Have  you  lately  heard  of  any  citizen's  thriving  well,  and  by 
what  means  ? 

"  5.  Have  you  lately  heard  how  any  present  rich  man,  here  or 
elsewhere,  got  his  estate? 

"  6.  Do  you  know  of  a  fellow-citizen,  who  has  lately  done  a  wor- 
thy action,  deserving  praise  and  imitation ;  or  who  has  lately  com- 
mitted an  error,  proper  for  us  to  be  warned  against  and  avoid  ? 

"  7.  What  unhappy  effects  of  intemperance  have  you  lately  ob- 
served or  heard ;  of  imprudence,  of  passion,  or  of  any  other  vice  or 
folly? 

"  8.  What  happy  effects  of  temperance,  of  prudence,  of  modera- 
tion, or  of  any  other  virtue  ? 

"  9.  Have  you  or  any  of  your  acquaintance  been  lately  sick  or 
wounded  ?  If  so,  what  remedies  were  used,  and  what  were  their 
effects  ? 

"  10.  Whom  do  you  know  that  are  shortly  going  voyages  or 
journeys,  if  one  should  have  occasion  to  send  by  them  ? 

"11.  Do  you  think  of  any  thing  at  present,  in  which  the  Junto 
may  be  serviceable  to  mankind^  to  their  country,  to  their  friends, 
or  to  themselves  ? 

"12.  Hath  any  deserving  stranger  arrived  in  town  since  last 
meeting,  that  you  have  heard  of?  And  what  have  you  heard  or 
observed  of  his  character  or  merits  ?  And  whether,  think  you,  it 
lies  in  the  power  of  the  Junto  to  oblige  him,  or  encourage  him  as 
he  deserves? 

"  13.  Do  you  know  of  any  deserving  young  beginner  lately  set 

up,  whom  it  lies  in  the  power  of  the  Junto  any  way  to  encourage  ? 

/     "  14.  Have  you  lately  observed  any  defect  in  the  laws  of  your 


180  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FEANKXIN.  [l727. 

country,  of  which  it  would  be  proper  to  move  the  legislature  for  an 
amendment  ?  Or  do  you  know  of  any  beneficial  law  that  is  wanting  ? 
y  "15.  Have  you  lately  observed  any  encroachment  on  the  just 
liberties  of  the  people  ? 

"16.  Hath  any  body  attacked  your  reputation  lately?  And 
what  can  the  Junto  do  towards  securing  it  ? 

"  1 7.  Is  there  any  man  whose  friendship  you  want,  and  which 
•the  Junto,  or  any  of  them,  can  procure  for  you? 

"  18.  Have  you  lately  heard  any  member's  character  attacked, 
and  how  have  you  defended  it  ? 

"  19.  Hath  any  man  injured  you,  from  whom  it  is  in  the  power 
of  the  Junto  to  procure  redress. 

"  20.  In  what  manner  can  the  Junto,  or  any  of  them,  assist  you 
in  any  of  your  honorable  designs  ? 

"21.  Have  you  any  weighty  affair  on  hand,  in  which  you  think 
the  advice  of  the  Junto  may  be  of  service  ? 

"22.  What  benefits  have  you  lately  received  from  any  man  not 
present  ? 

"  23.  Is  there  any  difiiculty  in  matters  of  opinion,  of  justice,  and 
injustice,  which  you  would  gladly  have  discussed  at  this  time  ?" 

Besides  conversing  on  the  topics  suggested  by  these  queries, 
questions  in  science  and  morals  were  discussed,  as  in  a  debating 
society.  Declamation  was  also  one  of  the  exercises,  and  an  essay 
was  expected  to  be  read  every  night.  In  the  pleasant  season  of 
the  year,  the  Junto  met  once  a  month  at  "  some  proper  place  across 
the  river  for  bodily  exercise."  As  the  several  societies  founded  by 
Cotton  Mather  were  accustomed  to  assemble,  once  a  year,  in  a 
church,  for  the  purpose  of  praying  and  exchanging  information  and 
good  will,  so  the  Junto,  on  one  of  the  pleasant  days  of  every  sum- 
mer, held  high  festival,  dined  together,  and  sang  the  jovial  songs 
of  that  jovial  time.  Franklin  himself  sung  many  a  good  song  at 
the  anniversary  of  the  Junto.  The  man  was  esteemed  a  dull-dog 
in  those  days  who  could  not  sing  a  song.  As  to  the  regular  Fri- 
day evening  debates,  Franklin  insisted  that  they  should  be  wholly 
free  from  heat  and  acrimony.  "  They  were  to  be  conducted,"  says 
Franklin,  "  in  the  sincere  spirit  of  inquiry  after  truth,  without  fond- 
ness for  dispute,  or  desire  of  victory ;  and,  to  prevent  warmth,  all 
expressions  of  positiveness  in  opinions,  or  direct  contradiction, 
were,  after  some  time,  made  contraband,  and  prohibited  under 
small  pecuniary  penalties." 


AGED    2].]  THE   JUNTO.  161 

In  this  happily  constituted  club  Franklin  took  the  greatest  de- 
light for  many  years.  In  the  possession  of  one  of  liis  grandchildren 
is  still  preserved  a  manuscript  book  of  Franklin's,  filled  with  me- 
moranda for  the  Junto,  sketches  of  essays,  replies  to  questions, 
topics  for  debate,  and  suggested  rules.  Many  of  the  questions 
proposed  by  him  for  discussion  were  very  suggestive  of  beneficial 
conversation,  as  well  as  characteristic  of  his  own  mind.  I  select  a 
few  as  specimens :  "  Is  self-interest  the  rudder  that  steers  man- 
kind?" *'  Can  any  one  particular  form  of  government  suit  all  man- 
kind ?"  "  Which  is  least  criminal,  a  bad  action  joined  with  a  good 
intention,  or  a  good  action  with  a  bad  intention  ?"  "  How  may  the 
possession  of  the  lakes  be  improved  to  our  advantage  ?"  "  Why 
does  the  flame  of  a  candle  tend  upward  in  a  spire  ?"  "  Should  it 
be  the  aim  of  philosophy  to  eradicate  the  passions  ?"  "  How  shall 
we  judge  of  the  goodness  of  a  writing  ?"  "  Can  a  man  arrive  at 
perfection  in  this  life  ?"  "  Wherein  consists  the  happiness  of  a  ra- 
tional creature  ?"  "  What  general  conduct  of  life  is  most  suitable 
for  men  in  such  circumstances  as  most  of  the  members  of  the  Junto 
are  ?  Or,  of  the  many  schemes  of  living  which  are  in  our  power  to 
pursue,  which  will  be  most  probably  conducive  to  our  happiness  ?" 
"  Which  is  best,  to  make  a  friend  of  a  wise  and  good  man  that  is 
poor,  or  of  a  rich  man  that  is  neither  wise  nor  good  ?"  "  Which 
of  the  two  is  the  greatest  loss  to  a  country  if  they  both  die?" 
"  Which  of  the  two  is  happiest  in  life  ?"  "  Does  it  not,  in  a  general 
way,  require  great  study  and  intense  application  for  a  poor  man  to 
become  rich  and  powerful,  if  he  would  do  it  without  the  forfeiture 
of  his  honesty  V  "  Does  it  not  require  as  much  pains,  study,  and 
application,  to  become  truly  wise  and  strictly  virtuous,  as  to  be- 
come rich  ?"  "  Can  a  man  of  common  capacity  pursue  both  views 
with  success  at  the  same  time?"  "If  not,  which  of  the  two  is  it 
best  for  him  to  make  his  whole  application  to  ?"  "  Whence  comes 
the  dew,  that  stands  on  the  outside  of  a  tankard  that  has  cold  water 
in  it  in  the  summer  time  ?"  "  Does  the  importation  of  servants  in- 
crease or  advance  the  wealth  of  our  country?"  "  Would  not  an 
office  of  insurance  for  servants  be  of  service,  and  what  methods  are 
proper  for  the  erecting  such  an  office  ?" 

In  some  of  these  questions  we  again  perceive  the  daring  intellect 
formed  to  investigate,  and  incapable  of  taking  any  thing  for  granted. 

The  Junto  was  never  permitted  to  have  more  than  twelve  mem- 


162  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l727. 

bers  at  the  same  time.  The  proceedings,  for  recording  which  the 
secretary  was  allowed  one  shilling  a  week,  were  designed  to  be 
kept  secret.  Alluring  whispers,  however,  escaped,  which  caused 
frequent  applications  for  admission  into  the  charmed  circle  of 
Leather-aproned  philosophers.  The  founder  of  the  club  at  length 
proposed  that  each  member  of  the  Junto  should  form  a  subordinate 
club  (another  idea  from  Cotton  Mather),  which  should  report  its 
proceedings  to  the  parent  society,  and  thus  extend  the  area  of  its 
influence.  Five  or  six  of  these  subordinate  clubs  were  formed, 
which  were  called  by  such  names  as  the  Vine,  the  Union,  and  the 
Band.  In  this  way,  as  in  other  ways  to  be  noticed  hereafter,  the 
Junto  became  the  source  of  great  good  to  Philadelphia,  to  the  Col- 
onies, and  to  the  United  States. 

The  Junto  was  no  sooner  organized  than  it  came  near  losing  its 
founder.  Six  months  of  Franklin's  connection  with  Mr.  Keimer 
passed  happily  away.  He  then  began  to  perceive  a  disagreeable 
change  in  the  demeanor  of  his  employer,  from  which  he  inferred 
that  he  had  been  engaged  merely  to  train  the  raw  hands,  whose 
daily  improvement  daily  rendered  the  services  of  the  foreman  less 
indispensable.  At  the  end  of  the  second  quarter  Keimer  hinted,  as 
he  paid  him  his  wages,  that  he  felt  the  charge  too  heavy,  and  that 
a  reduction  of  the  salary  would  be  no  more  than  proper.  He  was 
more  and  more  disposed  to  find  fault,  assumed  the  airs  of  a  master, 
and  was  evidently  but  too  willing  to  give  offense  to  his  foreman. 
Franklin  endured  this  with  the  more  patience,  because,  knowing  that 
Keimer  was  deeply  in  debt  for  his  materials  and  stationery,  he  attribu- 
ted his  petulance  in  part  to  his  anxiety.  Ere  long,  however,  their  con- 
nection was  violently  severed.  Attracted  by  a  noise  in  the  street  one 
day,  Franklin  put  his  head  out  of  the  window  to  see  what  was  the 
matter,  and  many  of  the  neighbors  did  the  same.  The  fated  Keimer, 
incapable  of  perceiving  that  the  retention  of  his  foreman  was  his 
one  chance  to  escape  ruin,  conceived  that  the  opportunity  to  rid 
himself  of  that  foreman  had  come.  In  a  loud  and  angry  manner  he 
ordered  him  to  return  to  his  business,  and  added  many  reproachful 
words,  hard  for  a  young  man  to  bear  in  the  presence  of  his  acquaint- 
ances. The  fool  immediately  came  up  into  the  printing-office,  where 
he  continued  his  senseless  vituperation.  Franklin  replying  to  his 
abuse  with  becoming  spirit,  Keimer  retorted  by  giving  Franklin 
the  quarter's  warning  for  which  both  had  stipulated,  and  said  he 


m 


AGED  22.]  THE   JUNTO.  163 

wished  he  were  not  obliged  to  endure  his  presence  even  so  long. 
"  The  wish  is  unnecessary,"  said  the  wrathful  foreman :  who  in- 
stantly took  his  hat  and  walked  out  of  the  office,  asking  his  friend 
Meredith  to  bring  to  his  lodgings,  in  the  evening,  the  few  articles 
that  he  left  behind. 

He  went  home,  and  Avhen  his  anger  cooled,  reflected  upon  his 
situation.  He  had  some  thoughts  of  returning  to  Boston.  He  had 
been  four  years  away  from  home,,  and,  upon  the  whole,  had  not,  he 
thought,  behaved  very  well,  or  done  very  well.  He  was  not,  natu- 
rally, of  an  economical  turn.  If  he  had  occasionally  saved  a  little 
money,  he  had  contrived  soon  to  get  rid  of  it  again.  It  was  his 
own  experience  of  the  inconveniences  that  result  from  extravagance 
that  caused  him  to  dwell  upon  economy  so  frequently  in  his  wri- 
tings ;  for  a  spendthrift  adores  economy  as  much  as  a  drunkard  does 
temperance.  There  he  was,  after  four  years  of  adventure,  a  jour- 
neyman printer  still,  still  in  debt  to  Mr.  Yernon,  with  no  great  sum 
ill  his  purse,  out  of  employment,  and  two  weeks'  journey  from  his 
father^s  house. 

But  Franklin  was  one  of  those  of  whom  Mr.  Emerson  says,  that 
planted  upon  a  marble  slab  they  will  take  root.  In  the  evening 
Hugh  Meredith  came,  and  they  talked  over  the  events  of  the  day. 
Meredith,  who  was  warmly  Franklin's  friend,  would  not  hear  of  his 
going  back  to  Boston.  Keimer,  he  said,  was  in  debt  for  his  entire 
stock,  and  his  creditors  were  already  alarmed.  Moreover,  he  was 
totally  devoid  of  capacity  for  business;  he  sold  for  cash  without 
profit,  and  on  credit  without  keeping  accounts.  Sooner  or  later  he 
must  fail,  and  create  a  vacancy  for  some  one  to  fill.  To  this  Mere- 
dith added  an  intimation  far  more  interesting.  He  said  he  felt 
sure  that  his  father,  from  conversations  he  had  had  with  him,  would 
advance  the  sum  necessary  to  set  them  both  up  in  business,  pro- 
vided Franklin  would  consent  to  burden  himself  with  so  incompe- 
tent a  partner.  It  was  late  in  the  autumn  of  1727  when  this  con- 
versation occurred.  "My  time,"  added  Meredith,  "will  be  out 
with  Keimer  in  the  spring ;  by  that  time  we  may  have  our  press 
and  types  in  from  Loudon.  I  am  sensible  I  am  no  workman ;  if 
you  like  it,  your  skill  in  the  business  shall  be  set  against  the  stock 
I  furnish,  and  we  will  share  the  profits  equally." 

All  this  being  highly  agreeable  to  our  disheartened  young  printer, 
he  consented  to  Meredith's  proposal.     The  father,  who  happened  to 


164  LIFE    AND  TIMES   OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l728 

be  in  town  at  the  time,  came  into  his  son's  plans  with  alacrity,  say- 
ing, that  as  Franklin  had  great  influence  with  his  son,  and  had  already 
prevailed  upon  him  to  abstain  t>om  dram-drinking  for  long  period?, 
he  would  probably  be  able,  when  they  were  so  closely  united,  to 
break  him  of  that  fatal  habit  entirely.  Franklin  drew  up  an  inven- 
tory of  the  articles  required,  which  Mr.  Meredith  gave  to  a  mer- 
chant, who  sent  to  London  for  them  by  the  next  ship.  It  was 
agreed  that  the  secret  should  be  kept  until  the  materials  arri\'ed, 
and  in  the  mean  time  that  Franklin  should  endeavor  to  get  work  at 
the  printing-house  of  Andrew  Bradford.  It  was  soon  ascertained, 
however,  that  Bradford  had  no  vacancy,  and  Franklin  passed  some 
days  in  idleness. 

Soon  came  a  message  to  him  from  Keimer,  to  the  eflect  that  old 
friends  ought  not  to  part  for  a  few  words  spoken  in  a  passion,  and 
that  Mr.  Keimer  would  be  glad  if  his  late  foreman  would  return  to 
his  employment.  This  message  being  interpreted,  signified,  that  the 
adjacent  province  of  JN"ew  Jersey  being  about  to  make  a  new  issue 
of  paper-money,  Samuel  Keimer  had  hopes  of  being  employed  to 
print  the  same,  and  Benjamin  Franklin  was  the  only  person  at  hand 
who  was  capable  of  making  the  requisite  cuts.  Meredith  also  en- 
treated him  to  return,  and  he  had  the  good  sense  to  do  so.  Keimer 
obtained  the  printing  of  the  paper-money.  Franklin  engraved  the 
cuts  and  ornaments  for  the  bills,  contrived  a  copper-plate  press  for 
printing  them,  and,  when  all  was  ready,  he  and  Keimer  went  to 
Burlington  to  execute  the  printing  under  the  eye  of  the  Legislature. 
There  they  remained  three  months.  The  printing  was  performed 
to  the  satisfaction  of  the  government,  and  Keimer  received  so  large 
a  sum  for  it  that  his  downfall  was  deferred  for  two  or  three  years. 
Franklin  found  valuable  friends  among  the  members  of  the  Legisla- 
ture, one  of  whom  was  required  by  law  constantly  to  overlook  the 
printers.  "  My  mind,"  he  modestly  says,  "  having  been  much  more 
improved  by  reading  than  Keimer's,  I  suppose  it  was  for  that  reason 
that  my  conversation  seemed  to  be  more  valued.  They  had  me  to 
their  houses,  introduced  me  to  their  friends,  and  showed  me  much 
civility;  while  he,  though  the  master,  was  a  little  neglected.  In 
truth,  he  was  an  odd  creature ;  ignorant  of  common  life,  fond  of 
rudely  opposing  received  opinions  ;  slovenly  to  extreme  dirtiness  ; 
enthusiastic  in  some  points  of  religion,  and  a  little  knavish  withal." 

A  sagacious  old  Jerseyman,  who,  from  wheeling  clay  for  brick- 


ArtED    22.]  THE   JUNTO.  165 

makers,  had  come  to  be  a  man  of  fortune  and  surveyor-general  of 
the  province,  said  to  Franklin  one  day  at  Burlington :  "  I  foresee 
you  will  soon  work  this  man  out  of  his  business  and  make  a  fortune 
In  it  at  Philadelphia."  This  he  said  without  knowing  any  thing  of 
the  secret  designs  of  Franklin  and  Meredith.  These  Jersey  friends 
brought  many  a  good  job  to  Franklin's  printing-office  in  later  years. 

In  the  spring  of  1728,  soon  after  his  return  to  Philadelphia  from 
Burlington,  the  types  and  press  arrived  from  London,  and  the  young 
men  prepared  to  begin  business.  Franklin  made  an  amicable 
settlement  with  Keimer,  and  left  him  without  breathing  a 
word  of  the  printing-house  about  to  be  established  by  Franklin  and 
Meredith. 

It  was  about  this  time  that  Franklin  wrote  the  famous  epitaph, 
which  has  been  so  often  printed.  The  narrow  escape  he  had  had 
from  death  by  the  pleurisy  may  have  suggested  it  to  his  mind. 
The  correct  version,  as  given  by  William  Temple  Franklin  from 
the  original  in  his  grandfather's  own  hand,  bearing  date  1729,  is  as 
follows : 

"  The  Body 
Of 
Benjamin  Franklin, 

Pi-inter, 

(Like  the  cover  of  an  old  book, 

Its  contents  torn  out. 

And  stript  of  its  lettering  and  gildirg,) 

Lies  here,  food  for  worms. 

Yet  the  work  itself  shall  not  be  lost, 

For  it  will,  as  he  believed,  appear  once  more, 

In  a  new  ^ 

And  more  beautiful  edition, 
Corrected  and  amended 

By 

The  Author." 

This  epitaph  was  frequently  imitated  during  the  last  century, 
both  in  England  and  in  the  colonies.  Smollett,  in  Peregrine  Pickle 
(published  in  1750),  inscribes  upon  the  imaginary  tombstone  of  his 
boisterous  Commodore  Trunnion  an  epitaph  that  was  probably  sug- 
gested by  Franklin's : 


166  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN  FEAtSTKLIN.  [l728. 

"  Here  lies, 

Foundered  in  a  fathom  and  a-half, 

The  shell 

Of 

Hawser  Trunnion,  Esq., 

Formerly  Commander  of  a  squadron 

In  his  Majesty's  service  ; 

Who  broached  to,  at  5  p.m.,  Oct.  X., 

In  the  year  of  his  age 

Three-score  and  nineteen. 

He  kept  his  guns  always  loaded, 

And  his  tackle  ready  manned, 

And  never  showed  his  poop  to  the  enemy, 

Except  when  he  took  her  in  tow ; 

But, 

His  shot  being  expended. 

His  match  burnt  out, 

And  his  upper  works  decayed, 

He  was  sunk 

By  Death's  superior  weight  of  metal. 

Nevertheless, 

He  will  be  weighed  agnin 

At  the  Great  Day, 

His  rigging  re-fittod, 

And  his  timbers  repaired  ; 

And  with  one  broadside 

Make  his  adversary 

Strike  in  his  turn.'' 

To  which  may  be  added  a  colonial  tribute  to  Franklin's  wit  of 
the  same  kind.  The  following  had  a  great  run  in  American  news- 
papers, and  continued  to  be  occasionally  printed  as  late  as  1787  : — 

"  EPITAPH  ON   A  WATCHMAKER. 

Here  lies,  in  an  horizontal  position, 

The  Outside  Case  of 

Peter  Pendulum,  Watchmaker, 

Whose  abilities  in  that  line  were  an  honor 

To  his  Profession. 

Integrity  was  his  main-spring. 


AGED  22.]  REGENERATION.  167 

And  prudence  the  regulator 

Of  all  the  actions  of  his  life. 

Humane,  generous  and  liberal, 

His  hand  never  stopped 

Till  he  had  reheved  distress. 

So  nicely  regulated  were  all  his  motions, 

That  he  never  went  wrong, 

Except  when  set  going 

By  people 

Who  did  not  know 

His  key. 

Even  then  he  was  easily 

Set  right  again. 

He  had  the  art  of  disposing  his  time 

So  well, 

That  his  hours  glided  away 

In  one  continued  round 

Of  pleasure  and  delight. 

Till  an  unlucky  minute  put  a  period  to 

His  existence. 

He  departed  this  life, 

Wound  up, 

In  hopes  of  being  taken  in  hand 

By  his  Maker, 

And  of  being  thoroughly  cleaned,  repaired. 

And  set  a-going 

In  the  World  to  Come." 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

REGENERATION. 


Franklin,  as  we  have  related,  became  a  freethinker  at  fifteen.   / 
Before  he  was  twenty-one,  he  began,  at  times,  to  suspect,  not  the  'j 
correctness,  but  the  sufficiency,  of  his  opinions  respecting  religion. 
It  became  clear  to  him  at  length,  as  it  has  since  to  so  many  brave 


168  TIMES  ASTD   TIMES    OF   BEISTJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1728. 

young  spirits,  that  negative  beliefs,  however  indisputable,  are 
powerless  to  enable  men  to  attain  self-control.  He  found  that  the 
saul  cannot  thrive  on  negatives.  He  perceived  that  if  a  man  was 
on  a  wrong  road,  his  discovery  of  the  fact  was  useless  unless  it 
prompted  him  to  seek  a  right  road.  His  old  friend  Collins,  he  re- 
membered, was  a  freethinker ;  and  Collins  had  gone  astray.  Ralph 
was  a  freethinker;  and  Ralph  was  a  great  sinner.  Keith  was  a 
freethinker ;  and  Keith  was  the  greatest  liar  in  Pennsylvania. 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  freethinker ;  and  how  shamefully  he  had 
behaved  to  Ralph,  to  Ralph's  mistress,  to  Mr.  Vernon,  and  to  Miss 
Read,  whose  young  life  had  been  blighted  through  him. 

Pondering  these  things,  he  reached  the  conclusion,  about  the 
time  that  he  became  of  age,  that  positive  truths  alone  are  nutritive  ; 
and  that  specific,  stated  exertions,  designed  solely  to  strengthen  the 
soul's  grasp  of  essential  truth,  are  necessary  to  its  growth  in  virj- 
tue.     In  a  word,  he  felt  the  need  of  a  religion. 

He  proceeded  to  form  a  rehgion  of  his  own.  It  consisted  of  a 
creed  and  a  liturgy,  both  of  which  he  recorded,  with  the  utmost 
care  and  elegance,  in  a  little  pocket  prayer-book,  which  still  exists, 
and  attests  by  the  beauty  of  the  penmanship  how  much  his  heart 
was  in  the  matter.  This  most  interesting  relic,  which  is  the  prop- 
erty of  an  American  citizen  resident  in  London,  ha3  recently  been 
shown  about  in  the  city  wherein  it  was  written  in  the  year  1728. 

The  book  was  entitled,  "Articles  of  Belief  and  Acts  of  Re- 
ligion,"* and  bore  this  motto  from  Addison's  Cato : 

"  Here  will  I  hold.     If  there's  a  power  above  us, 
(And  that  there  is,  all  nature  cries  aloud 
Through  all  her  works),  He  must  delight  in  virtue  5* 
And  that  which  he  delights  in  must  be  happy." 

He  began  by  making  a  formal  statement  of  his  belief,  or  what 
he  calls  "  First  Principles."  The  follow^ing  sentences  contain  the 
substance  of  this  curious  series  of  conjectures : 

"  There  is  one  Supreme,  most  perfect  Being,  Author  and  Father  of 
the  gods  themselves."  He  is  infinite  and  incomprehensible;  he 
does  not  expect  nor  desire  the  worship  of  man ;   he  is  above  it. 

*  Published  in  Sparks,  ii.,  1. 


AGED    22.]  BEGENEEATION.  169 

But  as  there  is  something  in  man  which  inclines  him  to  devotion,  it 
is  reasonable  to  conclude  that  it  is  his  duty  to  pay  divine  regards 
to  SOMETHING.  "I  conceivc,  then,  that  the  Infinite  has  created 
many  beings  or  gods,  vastly  superior  to  man,  who  can  better  con- 
ceive his  perfections  than  we,  and  return  him  a  more  rational  and 
glorious  praise ;  as,  among  men,  the  praise  of  the  ignorant  or  of 
children  is  not  regarded  by  the  ingenious  painter  or  architect,  who 
is  rather  honored  and  pleased  with  thie  approbation  of  wise  men 
and  artists.  It  may  be  these  created  gods  are  immortal ;  or  it  may 
be,  that,  after  many  ages,  they  are  changed,  and  others  supply  their 
places.  Howbeit,  I  conceive  that  each  of  these  is  exceeding  wise 
and  good,  and  very  powerful ;  and  that,  each  has  made  for  himself 
one  glorious  sun,  attended  with  a  beautiful  and  admirable  system  of 
planets.  It  is  that  particular  wise  and  good  God,  who  is  the  author 
and  owner  of  our  system,  that  I  propose  for  the  object  of  my 
praise  and  adoration." 

He  proceeds  to  state  his  conception  of  the  character  of  this  par- 
ticular God.  As  man  is  formed  capable  of  observing  his  wisdom  in 
the  creation,  it  is  to  be  inferred  that  this  God  "  is  not  above  caring 
for  us,"  is  "  pleased  with  our  praise,  and  offended  when  we  slight 
him."  This  Being  evidently  wishes  the  happiness  of  his  subjects, — 
and  as  man  is  happy  only  so  far  as  he  is  virtuous,  it  is  certain  that 
the  God  delights  in  virtue.  "And  since  he  has  created  many 
things  which  seem  purely  designed  for  the  delight  of  man,  I  be-' 
lieve  he  is  not  offended  when  he  sees  his  children  solace  themselves 
in  any  manner  of  pleasant  exercises  and  innocent  delights ;  and  I 
think  no  pleasure  innocent  that  is  to  man  hurtful."  "  Let  me  not 
fail,  then,  to  praise  my  God  continually,  for  it  is  his  due." 

After  this  statement  of  his  creed  comes  the  liturgy,  or  scheme  of 
worship,  designed  for  his  own  use  in  solitude.  The  Prelude  is 
as  follows :  "  Being  mindful  that  before  I  address  the  Deity,  my 
soul  ought  to  be  calm  and  serene,  free  from  passion  and  perturba- 
tion, or  otherwise  elevated  with  rational  joy  and  pleasure,  I  ought  to 
use  a  countenance  that  expresses  a  filial  respect,  mixed  with  a  kind 
of  smiling,  that  signifies  inward  joy,  and  satisfaction,  and  admira- 
tion." 

An  Invocation  follows,  resembling  in  style  some  of  the  Psalms 
of  David : 

"  O  Creator,  O  Father  I  I  believe  that  thou  art  good,  and  tha{ 
8 


IVO  LIFE   AND   TiaiES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKXIN.  [1728. 

thou  art  pleased  with  the  pleasure  of  thy  children. — Praised  be  thy 
name  forever ! 

"  By  thy  power  hast  thou  made  the  glorious  sun,  with  his  attend- 
ing worlds ;  from  the  energy  of  thy  mighty  will,  they  first  received 
their  prodigious  motion,  and  by  thy  wisdom  hast  thou  prescribed 
the  wondrous  laws,  by  which  they  move. — ^Praised  be  thy  name  for- 
ever ! 

"  By  thy  wisdom  hast  thou  formed  all  things  ;  thou  hast  created 
man,  bestowing  life  and  reason,  and  placed  him  in  dignity  superior 
to  thy  other  earthly  creatures. — Praised  be  thy  name  forever! 

"Thy  wisdom,  thy  power,  and  thy  goodness  are  everywhere 
clearly  seen ;  in  the  air  and  in  the  water,  in  the  heavens  and  on  the 
earth ;  thou  providest  for  the  various  winged  fowl,  and  the  innumer- 
able inhabitants  of  the  water;  thou  givest  cold  and  heat,  rain  and 
sunshine,  in  their  season,  and  to  the  fruits  of  the  earth  their  increase. 
— Praised  be  thy  name  forever ! 

"  Thou  abhorrest  in  thy  creatures  treachery  and  deceit,  malice, 
revenge,  intemperance,  and  every  other  hurtful  vice ;  but  thou  art  a 
lover  of  justice  and  sincerity,  of  friendship  and  benevolence,  and 
every  virtue ;  thou  art  ray  friend,  my  father,  and  my  benefactor. — 
Praised  be  thy  name,  O  God,  forever !     Amen." 

These  and  similar  other  sentences  having  been  solemnly  pro- 
nounced, the  worshiper  was  next  to  read  a  passage  from  Ray's 
Wisdom  of  God  in  the  Creation,  or  Blackmore  on  the  Creation,  or 
Cambray's  Demonstration  of  the  Being  of  a  God ;  or,  if  he  pre- 
ferred it,  to  spend  some  minutes  in  a  serious  silence  contemplating 
on  those  subjects.  Then,  he  should  sing  MUton's  Hymn  to  the 
Creator,  beginning, 

"  These  are  thy  glorious  works,  Parent  of  good ! 
Almighty!  thine  this  universal  frame. 
Thus  wondrous  fair ;  thyself  how  wondrous  then ! 
Unspeakable,  who  sitt'st  above  these  heavens, 
To  us  invisible,  or  dimly  seen 
In  these  thy  lowest  works  ;  yet  these  declare 
Thy  goodness  beyond  thought,  and  power  divine."* 

After  which  should  be  read  a  part  of  a  book  "  discoursing  on  and 
exciting  to  moral  virtue." 

*  Paradise  Lost,  Book  V.  * 


AGED    22.]  REGENEKATION.  l7l 

Then  followed  a  litany,  in  the  manner  of  the  Litany  of  the  Episco- 
pal Prayer  Book.     It  began  with  the  following  Prelude : 

"  Inasmuch  as  by  reason  of  our  ignorance  we  cannot  be  certain 
that  many  things,  which  we  often  hear  mentioned  in  the  petitions 
of  men  to  the  Deity,  would  prove  real  goods,  if  they  were  in  our 
possession,  and  as  I  have  reason  to  hope  and  believe  that  the  good- 
ness of  my  heavenly  Father  will  not  withhold  from  me  a  suitable 
share  of  temporal  blessings,  if  by  a  virtuous  and  holy  life  I  concil- 
iate his  favor  and  kindness ;  therefore  I  presume  not  to  ask  such 
things ;  but  rather,  humbly,  and  with  a  sincere  heart,  express  my 
earnest  desire  that  he  would  graciously  assist  my  continual  en- 
deavors and  resolutions  of  eschewing  vice  and  embracing  virtue  ; 
which  kind  of  supplications  will  at  the  same  time  remind  me  in  a 
solemn  manner  of  my  extensive  duty." 

The  litany,  expressing  as  it  does  the  innermost  desires  of  this 
noble-minded  youth,  is  of  the  highest  interest.  These  were  the 
longings  of  Franklin's  heart  at  the  age  of  twenty-two : 

"  That  I  may  be  preserved  from  atheism,  impiety,  and  profane- 
ness ;  and,  in  my  addresses  to  Thee,  carefully  avoid  irreverence 
and  ostentation,  formality  and  odious  hypocrisy, — Help  me,  O 
Father ! 

"  That  I  may  be  loyal  to  my  prince,  and  faithful  to  my  coun- 
try, careful  for  its  good,  valiant  in  its  defense,  and  obedient  to 
its  laws,  abhorring  treason  as  much  as  tyranny, — Help  me,  O 
Father ! 

"  That  I  may  to  those  above  me  be  dutiful,  humble,  and  sub- 
missive ;  avoiding  pride,  disrespect,  and  contumacy, — Help  me,  O 
Father  !— 

"  That  I  may  to  those  below  me  be  gracious,  condescending,  and 
forgiving,  using  clemency,  protecting  innocent  distress,  avoiding 
cruelty,  harshness,  and  oppression,  insolence,  and  unreasonable 
severity, — Help  me,  O  Father ! 

"  That  I  may  refrain  from  calumny  and  detraction ;  that  I  may 
abhor  and  avoid  deceit  and  envy,  fraud,  flattery,  and  hatred, 
malice,  lying,  and  ingratitude, — Help  me,  O  Father ! 

"  That  I  may  be  sincere  in  friendship,  faithful  in  trust,  and  im- 
partial in  judgment,  watchful  against  pride,  and  against  anger  (that 
momentary  madness) , — Help  me,  O  Father ! 

"  That  I  may  be  just  in  all  my  dealings,  temperate  in  my  plea- 


172  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1728. 

sures,  full  of  candor  and  ingenuousness,  humanity  and  benevolence, 
— Help  me,  O  Father ! 

"  That  I  may  be  grateful  to  my  benefactors,  and  generous  to  my 
friends,  exercising  charity  and  liberality  to  the  poor,  and  pity  to  the 
miserable, — Help  me,  O  Father  ! 

"  That  I  may  possess  integrity  and  evenness  of  mind,  resolution 
in  difficulties,  and  fortitude  under  affliction  ;  that  I  may  be  punc- 
tual in  performing  my  promises,  peaceable  and.  prudent  in  my  be- 
havior,— Help  me,  O  Father ! 

"That  I  may  have  tenderness  for  the  v;reak,  and  reverent  respect 
for  the  ancient;  that  I  may  be  kind  to  my  neighbors,  good- 
natured  to  my  companions,  and  hospitable  to  strangers, — Help  me, 

0  Father ! 

"  That  I  may  be  averse  to  craft  and  over-reaching,  abhor  ex- 
tortion, perjury,  and  every  kind  of  wickedness, — Help  me,  O 
Father ! 

"  That  I  may  be  honest  and  open-hearted,  gentle,  merciful,  and 
good,  cheerful  in  spirit,  rejoicing  in  the  good  of  others, — Help  me, 
6  Father ! 

"  That  I  may  have  a  constant  regard  to  honor  and  probity,  that 

1  may  possess  a  perfect  innocence  and  a  good  conscience,  and  at 
length  become  truly  virtuous  and  magnanimous, — Help  me,  good 
God  ;  help  me,  O  Father  !" 

The  service  concluded  with  a  thanksgiving,  for  peace  and  liberty ; 
for  food  and  raiment ;  for  corn  and  wine  and  milk,  and  every  kind 
of  healthful  nourishment ;  for  the  common  benefits  of  air  and  light ; 
for  useful  fire  and  delicious  water ;  for  knowledge  and  literature 
and  every  useful  art ;  for  friends  and  their  prosperity ;  for  the  few- 
ness of  his  enemies ;  for  life  and  reason  and  the  use  of  speech ;  for 
health  and  joy,  and  every  pleasant  hour. 

This  liturgy,  there  is  reason  to  believe,  he  continued  to  use  for 
twenty  years.  He  wrote  much  upon  religion  at  this  time  ;  among 
other  things,  a  new  version  of  the  Lord's  Prayer  with  extensive 
notes ;  a  refutation  of  his  London  pamphlet ;  and  a  lecture  on 
Providence  and  Predestination.  Toward  the  various  sects  he 
maintained  through  Hfe  a  good-humored  tolerance,  and  assisted  all 
of  them  with  money,  believing  that  the  object  of  each  was  the 
promotion  of  virtue,  and  that  all  of  them  did  actually  contribute  both 
to  the  happiness  and  to  the  virtue  of  their  members. 


AGED    22.]  REGENERATION.  173 

What  he  chiefly  objected  to  in  the  churches  was,  that  they  in- 
sisted so  strongly  upon  orthodoxy  of  opinion,  instead  of  exerting  all 
their  force  to  promote  good  feelings  and  good  conduct.  / 

"Though  I  seldom,"  he  says,  "attended  any  public  worship,  I 
had  still  an  opinion  of  its  propriety  and  of  its  utility  when  rightly 
conducted,  and  I  regularly  paid  my  annual  subscription  for  the 
support  of  the  only  Presbyterian  minister  or  meeting  we  had  in 
Philadelphia.  He  used  to  visit  me  sometimes  as  a  friend,  and  ad- 
monish me  to  attend  his  administrations ;  and  I  was  now  and  then 
prevailed  on  to  do  so ;  once  for  five  Sundays  successively.  Had  he 
been  in  my  opinion  a  good  preacher,  perhaps  I  might  have  con- 
tinued, notwithstanding  the  occasion  I  had  for  the  Sunday's  leisure 
in  my  course  of  study :  but  his  discourses  were  chiefly  either  po- 
lemic arguments,  or  explications  of  the  peculiar  doctrines  of  our 
sect,  and  were  all  to  me  very  dry,  uninteresting,  and  unedifying, 
since  not  a  single  moral  principle  was  inculcated  or  enforced ;  their 
aim  seeming  to  be  to  make  us  Presbyterians,  rather  than  good  citi- 
zens. At  length,  he  took  for  his  text  that  verse  of  the  fourth  chap- 
ter to  the  Philippians,  '  Finally^  brethren,  v^hatsoever  things  are 
true,  honest,  just,  pure,  lovely,  or  of  good  report,  if  there  he  any  vir- 
tue, or  any  praise,  think  on  these  things.''  And  I  imagined,  in  a 
sermon  on  such  a  text,  we  could  not  miss  of  having  some  morality. 
But  he  confined  himself  to  five  points  only,  as  meant  by  the  apos- 
tle :  1.  Keeping  holy  the  Sabbath  Day.  2.  Being  diligent  in  read- 
ing the  holy  Scriptures.  3.  Attending  duly  the  public  worship. 
4.  Partaking  of  the  Sacrament.  5.  Paying  a  due  respect  to  God's 
ministers.  These  might  be  all  good  things  ;  but,  as  they  were  not 
the  kind  of  good  things  that  I  expected  from  that  text,  I  despaired 
of  ever  meeting  with  them  from  any  other,  was  disgusted,  and 
attended  his  preaching  no  more." 

He  adds,  that  he  returned  to  the  use  of 'his  own  liturgy. 

The  reader  may  be  reminded  here  of  Goethe's  similar  feeling  with 
regard  to  attending  church.  "  If,"  he  would  say,  "  Protestants 
sought  to  define  more  clearly  what  ought  to  be  done,  lived,  and 
taught ;  if  they  imposed  an  inviolable,  reverential  silence  on  the 
mysteries  of  religion,  without  compelling  any  man  to  assent  to 
dogmas,  *  *  *        I  should  myself  be  the  first  to 

visit  the  church  of  my  brethren  in  religion,  with  sincere  heart,  and 
to  submit  myself  with  willing  edification  to  the  general  practical 


174  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEAJ^^XIN.  [l728. 

confession  of  a  faith  which  connected  itself  so  immediately  with 
action."* 

The  good  old  father  of  Franklin,  though  he  appears  to  have 
known  nothing  of  his  son's  early  freethinking,  yet  heard  rumors  of 
these  new  heresies,  and  wrote  to  him  on  the  subject,  in  some  alarm. 
Franklin's  reply  was  extremely  considerate  and  reassuring.  He 
said  that  if  it  were  in  his  power  to  change  his  opinions  at  pleasure, 
there  was  no  one  whom  he  ought  more  willingly  to  oblige  in  that 
way  than  his  father.  But  a  man  could  no  more  think  than  look  like 
another.  "All  that  should  be  expected  from  me  is,  to  keep  my 
mind  open  to  conviction,  to  hear  patiently,  and  examine  attentive- 
ly, whatever  is  offered  me  for  that  end ;  and  if,  after  all,  I  continue 
in  the  same  errors,  I  believe  your  usual  charity  will  induce  you  to 
rather  pity  and  excuse,  than  blame  me.  In  the  mean  time,  your 
care  and  concern  for  me  is  what  I  am  very  thankful  for.  My 
mother  grieves,  that  one  of  her  sons  is  an  Arian,  another  an  Ar- 
minian.  What  an  Arminian  or  an  Arian  is,  I  cannot  say  that  I 
very  well  know.  The  truth  is,  I  make  such  distinctions  very  little 
my  study.  I  think  vital  religion  has  always  suffered  when  ortho- 
doxy is  more  regarded  than  virtue ;  and  the  Scriptures  assure  me, 
that  at  the  last  day  we  shall  not  be  examined  what  we  thought^  but 
what  we  did^ 

To  his  sister  Jane,  on  the  same  subject :  "  You  express  yourself 
as  if  you  thought  I  was  against  the  worshiping  of  God,  and  doubt 
that  good  works  would  merit  heaven ;  which  are  both  fancies  of 
your  own,  I  think,  without  foundation.  I  am  so  far  from  thinking 
that  God  is  not  to  be  worshiped,  that  I  have  composed  and  wrote 
a  whole  book  of  devotions  for  my  own  use  ;  and  I  imagine  there 
are  few  if  any  in  the  world  so  weak  as  to  imagine,  that  the  little 
good  we  can  do  here  can  merit  so  vast  a  reward  hereafter.  There 
are  some  things  in  your  New  England  doctrine  and  Avorship  which 
I  do  not  agree  with ;  but  I  do  not  therefore  condemn  them,  or  de- 
sire to  shake  your  belief  or  practice  of  them.  We  may  dislike 
things  that  are  nevertheless  right  in  themselves." 

Whence  did  this  young  American  printer  derive  his  idea  of  the 

f^  subordinate  gods  ?     Probably  from  Sir  Isaac  Newton.     I  can  only 

indicate,  very  briefly,  the  grounds  of  this  rather  bold  conjecture. 

♦  "  Characteristics  of  Goethe,"  by  Sarah  Austin,  i.  77. 


J 


AGED    22.]  REGENERATION.  l75 

Every  reader  of  Sir  David  Brewster's  ''  Life  of  Newton,"  must  have 
been  struck  with  the  report  published  therein  of  "A  Remarkable 
and  Curious  Conversation  between  Sir  Isaac  ISTewton  and  Mr.  Con- 
duit," which  occurred  on  Sunday  evening,  March  7,  1725,  while 
Franklin  was  in  London.  One  sentence  of  this  conversation  is  the 
following :  "  He  (Sir  Isaac)  seemed  to  doubt  whether  there  were 
not  intelligent  beings  superior  to  us  who  superintended  those  revo- 
lutions of  the  heavenly  bodies  by  the  direction  of  the  Supreme  Be- 
ing." Now,  at  this  very  period,  from  1722  to  1726,  Sir  Isaac  was 
in  the  habit  of  associating,  on  terms  of  peculiar  cordiality,  with  Dr. 
Pemberton,  who  was  then  editing  the  third  edition  of  the  "  Prin- 
cipia."  For  Dr.  Pemberton  Sir  Isaac  Newton  felt  that  grateful  and 
warm  affection  which  great  men  are  apt  to  feel  for  disciples  who 
defend  and  illustrate,  but  never  oppose  them.  It  is  highly  proba- 
ble, that  Dr.  Pemberton  heard  Sir  Isaac  give  utterance  to  this  con- 
jecture ;  or,  if  not  him,  Mr.  Conduit,  his  nephew,  who  recorded  the 
conversation  quoted  above,  and  who  lived  in  Sir  Isaac  Newton's 
house.  When  the  youthful  Franklin  became  acquainted  with  Dr. 
Pemberton  in  London,  and  talked  with  him  of  the  august  philoso- 
pher, it  is  safe  to  say  with  positiveness,  knowing  what  we  know  of 
the  state  of  his  mind,  that  he  inquired  of  Dr.  Pemberton  what  the 
sublimest  genius  living  thought  upon  the  subjects  in  which  he  took 
so  constant  an  interest  himself.  Newton's  conjecture,  which  to 
modern  minds  is  void  of  interest,  must  have  been  interesting,  in  a 
high  degree,  to  the  inquisitive  and  newly-awakened  intellects  of 
that  day  ;  and  it  is,  therefore,  extremely  probable  that  Dr.  Pem- 
berton conveyed  the  notion  to  the  eager  mind  of  the  young  Ameri- 
can. Goethe,  I  may  add,  indulged  a  similar  dream  in  his  old  age.* 
So,  also,  did  Kepler. 

As  Franklin  grew  older,  he  abandoned  the  fantastical  part  of  his 
creed,  and  settled  down  into  the  belief  of  these  six  articles  : 

There  is  one  God,  the  Creator  of  all  things.  God  governs  the 
world  by  His  providence.  God  Ought  to  be  worshiped.  Doing 
good  to  men  is  the  service  most  acceptable  to  God.  Man  is  im- 
mortal. In  the  future  world,  the  disembodied  souls  of  men  will  be 
dealt  with  justly. 

He  held  fast  to  this  simple  creed  to  the  end  of  his  life,  avoiding, 

*  Miss  Austin's  "Characteristics  of  Goethe,"  vol.  i.,  chap.  iv. 


176  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1728.  i 

as  far  as  possible,  all  conversation,  and  even  all  consideration  of  the 
subjects  summed  up  in  the  word  Theology.  It  was  a  principle 
with  him  to  say  nothing,  and  to  write  nothing,  calculated  to  dis- 
turb the  religious  belief  of  any  man.  He  felt,  that  religion  was 
essential  to  the  welfare,  virtue,  and  peace  of  mankind,  and  that 
even  its  rudest  form,  and,  perhaps,  its  corruptest  organization,  pre- 
vents more  harm  than  it  causes. 

This  principle,  however,  did  not  prevent  him  from  giving  a  sly 
hit  occasionally  at  the  ancient  rancor  of  the  sects.  One  of  the  most 
exquisite  of  these  occurs  in  connection  with  an  anecdote  related  by 
him  of  a  new  sect  called  the  Dunkers,  of  whom  mention  has  already 
been  made  in  these  pages.  Many  scandals  being  related  of  the 
Dunkers,  Franklin  advised  the  leader  of  them  to  set  the  public 
right  by  publishing  an  authoritative  statement  of  their  opinions  and 
observances.  To  this  the  chief  Dunker  objected,  saying,  that  they 
hoped  to  enjoy  still  further  disclosures  of  truth,  and  if  they  should 
print  their  confession  of  faith,  they  might  feel  themselves  bound 
and  confined  by  it.  "  This  modesty  in  a  sect,"  adds  Franklin,  "  is 
perhaps  a  singular  instance  in  the  history  of  mankind ;  every  other 
sect  supposing  itself  in  possession  of  all  truth,  and  that  those  who 
diifer  are  so  far  in  the  wrong;  like  a  man  traveling  in  foggy 
weather ;  those  at  some  distance  before  him  on  the  road  he  sees 
wrapped  up  in  the  fog,  as  well  as  those  behind  him,  and  also  the 
people  in  the  fields  on  each  side ;  but  near  him  all  appear  clear ; 
though  in  truth  he  is  as  much  in  the  fog  as  any  of  them." 

Another  stroke  of  the  same  kind  occurs  in  the  opening  paragraph 
of  his  lecture  on  Providence, — a  performance  which  was  probably 
read  to  the  Junto,  but  was  not  published  until  many  years  after  his 
death.  He  began  his  lecture  in  the  usual  style  of  self-disparage- 
ment. *'But,"  he  added,  "I  am  especially  discouraged  when  I 
reflect,  that  you  are  all  my  intimate  pot-companions,  who  have 
heard  me  say  a  thousand  silly  things  in  conversation,  and  therefore 
have  not  that  laudable  partiality  and  veneration  for  whatever  I  shall 
deliver,  that  good  people  commonly  have  for  their  spiritual  guides ; 
that  you  have  no  reverence  for  my  habit,  nor  for  the  sanctity  of  my 
countenance ;  that  you  do  not  believe  me  inspired  or  divinely  as- 
sisted, and  therefore  will  think  yourselves  at  liberty  to  assert  or 
dissert,  approve  or  disapprove  of  any  thing  I  advance,  canvassing 
and  sifting  it,  as  the  private  opinion  of  one  of  your  acqnaintance. 


AGED   22.]  EEGENERATIOX.  lV7 

These  are  great  disadvantages  and  discouragements ;  but  I  am  en- 
tered and  must  proceed,  humbly  requesting  your  patience  and 
attention." 

Having  thus  returned  to  the  practice  of  religion,  and  being  in  the 
weekly  habit  of  reflecting  upon  his  duties  as  a  man  and  a  citizen,  it 
might  have  been  expected  that  his  life  would  thenceforth  be  pure 
and  regular.  We  are  obliged  to  confess  that,  in  one  most  impor- 
tant particular,  such  was  not  the  case.  It  was  of  the  period  imme- 
diately succeeding  the  production  of  his  liturgy,  that  he  uses  the 
well-known  words  :  "  That  hard  to  be  governed  passion  of  youth 
had  hurried  me  frequently  into  intrigues  with  low  women  that  fell 
in  my  way,  which  were  attended  with  some  expense  and  great  in- 
convenience, besides  a  continual  risk  to  my  health  by  a  distemper, 
which,  of  all  things,  I  dreaded,  though  by  great  good  luck  I  es- 
caped it."  It  was,  perhaps,  owing  to  his  frequent  delinquencies  in 
this  way,  that  his  liturgy  contains  no  allusion  to  a  vice  which  is,  of 
all  others,  the  most  alluring  to  a  youth  of  Franklin's  temperament. 
He  was  too  sincere  and  logical  a  man  to  go  before  his  God  and  ask 
^assistance  against  a  fault  which  he  had  not  fully  resolved  to  over- 
come, and  that  immediately.  About  a  year  after  the  date  of  his 
liturgy,  was  born  his  illegitimate  son,  William  Franklin,  who  be- 
came governor  of  New  Jersey.  If  laws  were  as  easily  executed  as 
enacted,  Benjamin  Franklin  would  have  received,  upon  this  occar 
sion,  twenty-one  lashes  at  the  public  whipping-post  of  Philadel- 
phia.* 

There  is  every  reason  to  beUeve,  and  there  is  no  reason  to  doubt, 
that  from  this  period,  onward  to  the  end  of  his  life,  Franklin  lived 
purely.  Lenient  toward  the  errors  of  others,  he  was  exacting  and 
rigorous  in  his  demands  upon  himself  He  became  a  strictly  moral 
man,  without  being  a  moral  bigot. 

His  apprenticeship  to  life  was  at  an  end.  He  had  found  his  re- 
ligion and  his  work  ;  or,  in  other  words,  he  had  found  his  work  and 
i  learned  how  to  do  it.  He  had  deliberately  chosen  the  better  part. 
He  had  set  himself  to  become  a  good  man  and  a  good  citizen.  He 
had  outlived  the  foUies  of  his  youth,  and  had  become  a  man,  thought- 
ful, earnest,  and  sincere.  "  Blessed  is  he,"  says  Mr.  Carlyle,  "  who 
has  found  his  work."     Even  so.     But  then  Carlyle  adds,  "  Let  him 

*  Watson's  "  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  i.,  80G. 

8* 


178  LIFE    AJn)  TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1728. 

ask  no  other  blessedness."  Not  so.  Much  other  blessedness  is  attain- 
able by  an  honest  man.  But  it  is  the  faithful  performance  of  his 
work  which  alone  gives  him  a  just  title  to  that  other  blessedness,  and 
by  which  alone  he  can  fairly  acquire  the  means  of  procuring  it. 
Franklin's  task  was  to  be  the  chief  printer  of  Pennsylvania;  which, 
to  such  a  man,  meant  chief  instructor,  stimulator,  and  cheerer.  To 
that  task  he  now  addressed  himself  with  all  the  energy  and  talents 
which  nature  and  education  had  bestowed  upon  him. 


PART  11. 

MAN  OF  BUSINESS. 


PART     II 


CHAPTER  L 

THE   FIEM   OF   FEANKLIN"   AND   MEEEDITH. 

The  young  printers  began  very  prudently.  They  hired  a  house 
in  the  lower  part  of  Market  Street  at  twenty-four  pounds  a  year, 
and  re-let  the  greater  part  of  it  to  Thomas  Godfrey,  glazier  and 
mathematician,  that  member  of  the  Junto  whose  craving  for  mathe- 
matical exactness  rendered  his  company  disagreeable.  When 
they  had  opened  their  types,  set  up  their  press,  and  bought  the 
other  appurtenances  of  a  printing-office,  their  stock  of  cash  was 
exhausted.  Thus,  they  began  business  without  money,  and  in  debt 
for  nearly  all  their  implements  and  materials. 

In  the  nick  of  time,  when,  indeed,  they  were  scarcely  ready  for 
customers,  George  House,  an  acquaintance  of  Franklin,  brought 
to  the  office  a  countryman  whom  he  had  found  in  the  street  looking 
for  a  printer.  They  executed  for  him  a  five-shilling  job.  "This 
man's  five  shillings,"  says  Franklin,  "  being  our  first  fruits,  and 
coming  so  seasonably,  gave  me  more  pleasure  than  any  crown  I 
have  since  earned ;  and,  from  the  gratitude  I  felt  towards  House, 
has  made  me  often  more  ready  than  perhaps  I  otherwise  should 
have  been  to  assist  young  beginners."  This  encouragement  they 
needed  the  more,  because  there  were  not  wanting  dismal  prophets 
to  remind  them  that  Philadelphia  had  not  a  great  deal  of  printing 
to  do,  and  that  there  were  already  two  established  printers  to  do  it. 

The  Junto  was  of  essential  use  to  the  young  firm.  Every  mem- 
ber of  it  exerted  himself  to  procure  work  for  them,  and  Joseph 
Breintnal  had  interest  enough  to  get  them  the  printing  of  forty 
sheets  of  a  voluminous  work,  in  which  the  Quakers  were  then  deeply 
interested.  It  was  a  London  translation  of  a  Dutch  "  History  of 
the  Rise,  Increase,  and  Progress  of  the  Christian  People  called 


182  LIFE   AND  TIMES    Or   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1728. 

Quakers  ;"  one  of  those  huge  folios  under  which  the  shelves  (and 
librarians)  of  ancient  libraries  groan.*  The  price  given  for  this  work 
was  so  low,  that  Franklin  felt  it  necessary  to  compose  one  sheet 
every  day,  which  Meredith  worked  off  upon  the  press.  Even  when 
interrupted  by  other  work,  he  would  finish  his  sheet  before  going 
to  bed,  though  to  do  this  he  was  obliged  often  to  work  till  eleven 
at  night.  One  night,  when  he  had  finished  his  prescribed  task,  one- 
half  of  it  was  accidentally  thrown  into  pi.  He  set  to  work  again 
immediately,  distributed  the  disordered  type,  and  composed  the 
pages  anew  before  he  left  the  office.  Besides  the  ordinary  work  of 
a  printer,  he  occasionally  cast  types,  cut  ornaments  for  title-pages, 
made  his  own  ink,  and  lamp-black  for  the  ink. 

The  industry  and  energy  of  Franklin  could  not  long  escape  atten- 
tion. He  heard  afterwards,  that  mention  was  made  of  the  new 
printing-office  at  the  Merchants'  Every  Night  Club,  when  the  opin- 
ion prevailed  that  the  attempt  to  establish  a  third  printing-house  in 
Philadelphia  could  not  but  result  in  failure.  One  gentleman  present 
who  lived  near  the  office  expressed  a  contrary  opinion,  saying,  "  The 
industry  of  that  Franklin  is  superior  to  any  thing  I  ever  saw  of  the 
kind.  I  see  him  still  at  work  when  I  go  home  from  the  club,  and 
he  is  at  work  again  before  his  neighbors  are  out  of  bed."  This 
remark  made  such  an  impression  upon  one  of  the  merchants  who 
heard  it,  that  he  offered  to  supply  the  young  men  with  stationery  on 
credit ;  but  they  were  not  yet  prepared  for  business  of  that  kind. 
Meanwhile  they  contrived  to  live  by  their  printing,  and  to  slowly 
extend  their  small  and  precarious  business. 

To  establish  a  newspaper  was  a  darling  project  with  Franklin 
from  the  first ;  and  before  he  had  been  in  business  a  year,  he  had 
nearly  completed  his  plan  for  beginning  one.  Franklin  had  a  rare 
faculty  for  keeping  a  secret,  but  on  this  occasion  it  failed  him.  George 
Webb,  the  young  runaway  from  Oxford,  came  into  the  office  of 
Franklin  and  Meredith  one  day,  and  asked  for  employment  as  a  jour- 
neyman, as  he  had  bought  the  remainder  of  his  time  from  Keimer. 
Franklin  replied  that  they  could  not  employ  him  then,  but  expected 
to  have  work  for  him  soon.  In  strict  confidence,  he  imparted  to  Webb 
the  secret  of  the  projected  paper ;  telling  him  that,  as  there  was 
then  but  one  newspaper  in  Philadelphia,  and  that  one  was  very  profit- 

*  "  The  History  of  the  Eise,  Increase,  &  Progress  of  the  Christian  People  called  Quakers, 
Intermixt  with  several  Remarkable  Oocurrences,'''  by  William  Sewel. 


AGED    22.]        THE  riRM    OF    FEANKLIX   AND     MEEEDITH.  183 

able  though  wretchedly  dull,  a  paper  well  conducted  could  scarcely 
fail  to  be  liberally  encouraged.  Webb  immediately  revealed  the 
project  to  Keimer,  who  clutched  at  the  idea,*  issued  proposals  for  a 
paper  of  his  own,  and  engaged  the  treacherous  Webb  to  assist  in 
printing  it.  December  24th,  1728,  appeared  the  first  number  of 
Keimer's  preposterous  journal,  entitled  "27ie  Universal  Instructor 
in  all  Arts  and  Sciences^  and  Pennsylvania  Gazette.^"*  Price,  ten 
shiUings  a  year ;  advertisements  three  shillings  each. 

Mr.  Keimer's  opening  address  was  absurd  enough  to  be  amusing. 
Thus  spake  Keimer :  "  As  he  that  intends  to  erect  a  noble  and 
magnificent  Structure,  is  obliged  to  make  Use  of  the  meanest  and 
most  contemptible  Materials,  in  Order  to  begin,  carry  on,  and  per- 
fect his  Undertaking  ;  so  no  Person  whatever  can  make  any  true 
Judgement  what  Sort  of  Building  it  will  be  by  only  beholding  the 
preparing  of  the  Mortar,  the  digging  of  the  Stones,  the  squaring 
the  Marble,  or  the  mixing  of  the  Colours.  The  same  may  justly 
be  observ'd  of  our  Universal  Instructor  ;  for  as  Great  Things 
are  compounded  of  Small,  we  think  it  necessary,  in  Order  to  fur- 
nish our  Paper  with  proper  Materials  deserving  that  Character,  to 
introduce  it  with  an  Exposition  on  the  Letter  A,  the  first  in  the 
Alphabet ;  and  as  Letters  were  before  Words,  and  Words  only 
serve  as  so  many  Messengers  to  declare  the  Nature  and  Property 
of  Things,  it  cannot  be  thought  impertinent  to  begin  at  the  lowest 
End  first,  and  advance  by  Degrees  to  the  highest  Pitch  of  Knowl- 
edge we  aim  to  arrive  at." 

The  exposition  of  the  letter  A  followed,  and  was  succeeded  by 
a  great  number  of  short,  learned  paragraphs,  the  headings  of 
which  all  began  with  the  same  letter.  The  explanation  of  this 
curious  proceeding  was,  that  Mr.  Keimer  possessed  a  copy  of 
Ephraim  Chambers's  Dictionary  of  the  Arts  and  Sciences,  a  work 
that  had  just  appeared  in  London,  from  which  he  extracted  the 
articles  in  the  order  in  which  they  occurred.  This  simple  and  easy 
way  of  filling  his  columns  he  continued  as  long  as  he  conducted 
the  paper.     The  first  number  contained  two  columns  of  Dictionary, 

*  Keimer  had  recently  tried  a  lottery,  to  save  himself  from  ruin ;  as  we  learn  from  the  Min- 
utes of  the  Philadelphia  City  Council,  May  16th,  1728: 

"  The  Board  having  heard  that  a  Lottery  was  intended  to  be  erected  by  Samuel  Keimer  in  this 
city  during  this  present  Fair,  he  having  set  forth  several  printed  papers  for  that  purpose,  the 
Board  sent  for  the  sd.  Keimer,  who  came,  and  having  heard  what  he  had  to  say  in  behalf  of  sd. 
Lottery  :  Ordered,  that  no  Lottery  be  kept  during  the  sd.  Fair." 


184  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN"  FRANKLIN.  [l'/29. 

two  columns  of  Kews  paragraphs,  an  Address  of  the  Legislature  of 
New  Jersey  to  their  Governor,  and  his  Reply,  and  three  advertise- 
ments, of  which  two  were  Keimer's  own.  One  paragraph  informed 
the  public  that  Samuel  Keimer  had  presented  a  petition  to  the 
legislature  of  New  Jersey,  "representing  the  charge  he  had  been 
at  in  making  their  money,  and  to  prevent  its  being  easily  counter- 
feited." So,  it  appears,  the  province  of  New  Jersey  did  not  pay 
very  promptly :  for  the  work  had  been  done  nine  months  before. 

To  do  Keimer  justice,  his  paper  was  better  than  Bradford's 
Mercury.  There  was,  at  least,  something  to  read  in  it  besides 
items  of  European  news  six  months  old.  The  j)aper  was  a  com- 
pound of  three  ingredients,  namely,  Keimer's  own  bungling  stu- 
pidity, George  Webb's  recollection  of  Franklin's  ideas  as  to  what  a 
paper  ought  to  be,  and  tales  of  English  life  verging  upon  the  ob- 
scene, which  Webb  may  himself  have  furnished,  or  selected. 
When  the  stock  of  matter  began  to  run  low,  Keimer  gave  in  each 
number  a  long  extract  from  Daniel  Defoe's  Religious  Courtship. 

Franklin  witnessed  these  proceedings  of  the  blabbing  Webb 
and  the  foolish  Keimer  with  indignation  and  contempt.  When  the 
TTniver sal  Instructor  in  all  Arts  and  Sciences  had  been  in  existence 
a  month,  he  hit  upon  an  expedient  to  draw  away  the  attention  of 
the  public  from  its  weekly  issues.  He  began,  in  Bradford's  Mer- 
cury^ a  series  of  extremely  entertaining  essays,  in  the  manner  of 
the  Spectator^  and  fully  equal  in  quality  to  all  but  the  best  of 
Addison's  own.  He  signed  his  first  paper  "Busy-Body,"  and 
afterwards  adopted  that  name  as  the  heading  of  his  department  of 
the  paper  :  under  which  he  gave  a  great  variety  of  amusing  mat- 
ter, composed  by  himself  and  his  friends  of  the  Junto,  particularly  by 
that  worthy  gentleman,  Joseph  Breintnal.  The  first  number  of  the 
Busy-Body  was  perfectly  adapted  to  its  purpose,  since,  besides 
being  itself  witty  and  satirical,  it  gave  vague  and  tempting 
promises  of  sharp  things  to  come.  "  It  is  probable,"  said  the  Busy- 
Body,  "  that  I  may  displease  a  great  number  of  your  readers,  who 
will  not  very  well  like  to  pay  ten  shillings  a  year  for  being  told  of 
their  faults.  But,  as  most  people  delight  in  censure  when  they 
themselves  are  not  the  object  of  it,  if  any  are  oiFended  at  my  pub- 
licly exposing  their  private  vices,  I  promise  they  shall  have  the  sat- 
isfaction, in  a  very  little  time,  of  seeing  their  good  friends  and 
neighbors  in  the  same  circumstances."     He  also  announced,  that 


AGED   23.]  THE   FIRM    OF    FRANKLIlSr  AND   MEREDITH.  185 

he  should  now  and  then  devote  a  chapter  to  the  service  of  the  fair 
sex,  whom,  however,  he  engaged  always  to  treat  with  "  the  utmost 
decency  and  respect." 

It  is  evident  that  these  contributions  made  a  great  and  pleasant 
stir  in  the  province  ;  as  well  they  might,  for  few  colonies  have  been 
favored  with  such  essays.  Keimer  soon  took  fire  at  one  of  them, 
which  he  imagined  contained  some  covert  reflections  upon  himself. 
He  replied  to  Franklin's  delicate  and  piercing  raillery  by  coarse 
and  obscene  abuse,  both  in  prose  and  rhyme.  He  also  compli- 
mented the  Busy-Body  by  publishing  essays  as  nearly  resembling 
his  as  he  could  procure.  In  one  of  his  pieces  Franklin  gave  a  long 
and  good-humored  reply  to  the  attacks  of  his  old  employer.  In 
some  of  these  early  essays,  Franklin's  natural  benevolence  and 
public  spirit  are  plainly  manifest.  He  has  an  ingenious  piece  upon 
the  practice  that  long  prevailed  in  the  colonies,  of  digging  for  the 
treasure  supposed  to  be  buried  along  the  coast  by  pirates.  The 
following  is  quite  in  the  style  of  Poor  Richard  : 

"  Let  honest  Peter  Buckram,  who  has  long,  without  success,  been 
a  searcher  after  hidden  money,  consider,  that  every  stitch  he  takes, 
when  he  is  on  his  shop-board,  is  picking  up  part  of  a  grain  of  gold, 
that  will  in  a  few  days'  time  amount  to  a  pistole ;  and  let  Faber 
think  the  same  of  every  nail  he  drives,  or  every  stroke  with  his 
plane.  *  *  *  I  shall  conclude  with  the  words  of  my  discreet 
friend  Agricola,  of  Chester  county,  when  he  gave  his  son  a  good 
plantation.  '  My  son,'  said  he,  *  I  give  thee  now  a  valuable  parcel 
of  land ;  I  assure  thee  I  have  found  a  considerable  quantity  of  gold 
by  digging  there ;  thee  mayst  do  the  same  ;  but  thee  must  carefully 
observe  this :  Never  to  dig  more  than  ploic-deep.'' " 

After  writing  a  few  numbers  of  the  Busy-Body,  Franklin's  at- 
tention was  so  strongly  drawn  to  another  class  of  subjects,  that  he 
abandoned  that  entertainment  to  his  excellent  friend  Breintnal, 
who  continued  the  series  for  several  months. 

For  a  year  or  more,  Pennsylvania  had  been  agitated  by  the  dis- 
cussion of  that  perplexing  subject,  paper-money.  The  paper  cur- 
rency of  the  province,  issued  in  1723  for  a  limited  period,  amounted 
to  but  fifteen  thousand  pounds,  and  it  was  about  to  be  called  in. 
The  people  clamored  for  a  new  and  larger  issue,  to  which  capitalists 
objected,  pointing  to  New  England  and  South  Carolina,  where  the 
paper  money  had  wofully  depreciated.    This  subject,  like  all  others 


186  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [l729. 

that  stirred  the  public  mind,  was  amply  debated  in  the  Junto,  where 
Franklin  sided  with  those  who  favored  a  reissue.  "I  was  per- 
suaded," he  says,  "that  the  first  small  sum,  struck  in  1'723,  had 
done  much  good  by  increasing  the  trade,  employment,  and  number 
of  inhabitants  in  the  province ;  since  I  now  saw  all  the  old  houses 
inhabited,  and  many  new  ones  building;  whereas  I  remembered 
well,  when  I  first  walked  about  the  streets  of  Philadelphia  (eating 
my  roll),  I  saw  many  of  the  houses  in  Walnut  Street,  between  Sec- 
ond and  Front  Streets,  with  bills  on  their  doors  ^Ho  be  let  y"  and 
many,  Hkewise,  in  Chestnut  Street  and  other  streets,  which  made 
me  think  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were  one  after  another  desert- 
ing it." 

It  is  possible,  too  (human  nature  being  always  human  nature),  that 
he  was  prepossessed  in  favor  of  paper-money  by  the  display  he  had 
recently  made  at  Burlington  of  his  skill  in  manufacturing  the  article. 

His  convictions  upon  the  subject,  however,  were  clear  and  strong. 
Having  the  whole  subject  at  command  through  the  incessant  de- 
bates of  the  Junto,  he  devoted  his  leisure  during  the  month  of 
March,  1Y29,  to  the  composition  of  an  extensive  pamphlet,  which 
was  published  anonymously  soon  after,  entitled,  "  A  Modest  Inquiry 
into  the  Nature  and  Necessity  of  a  Paper  Currency."  To  give  it  a 
learned  air,  he  contrived  to  pick  up  for  the  title-page  a  Latin  motto 
from  Persius,  to  the  eifect,  that  plenty  of  new  money  ought  to  be 
given  to  country  and  to  kindred.  Much  of  the  reasoning  of  this 
pamphlet  will  not  bear  the  light  since  thrown  upon  political  econo- 
my, and  there  are  several  passages  in  it  that  savor  of  special  plead- 
ing. Nevertheless,  for  a  self-instructed  young  man  of  twenty- 
three,  in  the  year  1729,  in  the  remote  colony  of  Pennsylvania,  it 
must  be  considered  an  extraordinary  production.  Adam  Smith 
was  then  an  urchin,  six  years  old ;  and  forty-seven  years  were  to 
elapse  before  the  publication  of  the  "Wealth  of  Nations."  In 
Franklin's  pamphlet,  not  only  were  some  of  Adam  Smith's  doc- 
trines anticipated,  but  its  spirit  and  method  are  Adam-Smithian.* 
The  young  printer  began  by  laying  down  a  proposition,  from  which 
he  deduced  his  conclusions.  That  proposition  was :  "  There  is  a 
certain  proportionate  quantity  of  money  requisite  to  carry  on  the 

♦  With  Franklin's  pamphlet,  as  given  in  Sparks,  ii.,  253,  compare  Adam  Smith's  "Wealth  of 
Nations,"  vol,  i.,  chap,  iv..  Of  the  Origin  and  Use  of  Money;  and  chap,  v..  Of  the  Eeal  and 
Nominal  Price  of  Commodities. 


AGED  23.]  THE   FIRM    OF    FRANKLIN   AND   MEREDITH.  187 

trade  of  a  country  freely  and  currently ;  more  than  which  would  be 
of  no  advantage  in  trade,  and  less,  if  much  less,  exceedingly  detri- 
mental to  it."  The  main  conclusion,  of  course,  was,  that  Pennsyl- 
vania, without  the  proposed  issue  of  paper  money,  had  less  money 
than  was  needful  for  carrying  on  its  trade  freely  and  currently. 
But  there  is  a  great  deal  of  ingenious  argument  and  clear  statement 
in  the  pamphlet,  much  of  which  must  have  struck  the  Pennsyl- 
vanians  of  that  day  with  the  force  of  novelty.  Some  of  the  remarks 
upon  the  nature  of  money,  upon  the  principle  of  self-adjustment  in- 
herent in  affairs,  if  the  operation  of  that  principle  is  not  obstructed 
by  unwise  legislation,  and  upon  labor  as  the  standard  of  value,  are 
quite  in  the  modern  spirit.  He  concludes  by  saying  that  his  essay 
was  "  wrote  and  published  in  haste,"  and  he  shall  esteem  it  a  favor 
if  gentlemen  will  point  out  the  errors  into  which  he  may  have 
fallen,  as  he  sincerely  desired  "  to  be  acquainted  with  the  truth." 
"  It  would  be  highly  commendable,"  he  adds,  "  in  every  one  of  us, 
more  fully  to  bend  our  minds  to  the  study  of  what  is  the  true  inte- 
rest of  Pennsylvania ;  whereby  we  may  be  enabled,  not  only  to 
reason  pertinently  with  one  another ;  but,  if  occasion  requires,  to 
transmit  home  such  clear  representations,  as  must  inevitably  con- 
vince our  superiors  of  the  reasonableness  and  integrity  of  our  de- 
signs." 

This  pamphlet,  it  is  said,  had  considerable  effect  in  overcoming 
the  opposition  to  the  new  issue;  which,  in  due  time,  was  made, 
with  happy  effects,  as  Franklin  always  thought,  upon  the  pros- 
perity of  the  province.  He  never  wavered  in  his  opinion,  that 
paper  money,  fully  secured  against  depreciation,  and  not  excessive 
in  quantity,  is  advantageous  to  a  state. 

With  regard  to  the  striking  similarity  of  his  pamphlet,  in  tone 
and  method,  to  some  passages  of  the  "  Wealth  of  Nations,"  we  are  to 
remember,  that  Adam  Smith,  Hke  all  other  writers  of  the  first  rank, 
inherited  vast  accumulations  of  truth,  as  well  as  vast  accumulations 
of  error.  The  great  work  of  Adam  Smith  is  as  original  as  New- 
ton's "  Principia,"  or  Buckle's  "History  of  Civilization  in  England;" 
but  it,  nevertheless,  like  them,  contained  the  result  of  all  the  best 
thought  upon  its  subject  that  had  ever  been  recorded.  Man  is 
great  only  by  accumulation.  A  single  mind  can  no  more  produce 
a  book  of  the  first  order  than  a  single  architect,  in  the  infancy  of 
the  race,  could  have  built  St.  Peter's.     It  is  much  if  a  man  in  his 


188  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [ll29. 

lifetime  has  one  thought  that  is  both  original  and  valuable.  The 
greatest  men  have  had  but  two  or  three..  There  is  no  reason  to 
suppose  that  Adam  Smith  ever  saw  Franklin's  pamphlet.  The 
similarity  that  has  excited  so  much  surprise,  is  owing  simply  to 
the  fact,  that  Franklin  had  read  Locke's  essays  upon  Interest  and 
the  Value  of  Money,  Defoe's  works,  and  other  writings  of  that  day, 
which  made  approaches  to  the  great  truths  afterwards  systematized 
and  demonstrated  by  Smith.  Commercial  science  made  surprising 
advances  from  1650  to  1700.  The  new  commerce  with  India  and 
America,  and  the  new  coinage  in  the  reign  of  William  III. ,  called 
forth  a  great  number  of  pamphlets  and  essays  on  the  class  of  sub- 
jects treated  by  Franklin  in  his  essay  upon  Paper  Money.*  That 
essay  shows,  not  that  he  was  an  originator  in  the  science  of  com- 
merce, but  that  he  was  an  intelligent  reader  of  the  more  abstruse 
literature  of  his  time.  Franklin's  fundamental  proposition,  quoted 
above,  is  to  be  found,  for  example,  in  a  pamphlet  published  in  Lon- 
don in  1691,  written  by  Sir  Dudley  North.  One  of  the  positions 
of  that  author  is :  "  That  money  is  a  merchandise,  whereof  there 
may  be  a  glut,  as  well  as  a  scarcity,  and  that  even  to  an  incon- 
venience." 

To  return  to  the  sly  and  eccentric  Keimer.  In  spite  of  the  Busy- 
Body's  ingenious  efforts  to  divert  the  town,  Keimer  succeeded  in 
issuing  twenty-six  numbers  of  the  Universal  Instructor^  without 
interruption ;  boasting  occasionally,  as  is  the  custom  of  failing  edi- 
tors, of  the  great  encouragement  he  had  met  with.  But  Number 
Twenty-seven  came  not  forth  on  the  day  it  was  due.  A  whole 
week  elapsed  before  the  province  was  again  favored  with  its  In^ 
structor.  In  accounting  for  the  week's  delay,  Mr.  Keimer  surpassed 
all  his  previous  and  all  his  later  writings. 

"  It  certainly  must  be  allowed  somewhat  strange,"  he  remarked, 
"that  a  Person  of  strict  Sincerity,  refin'd  Justice,  and  universal 
Love  to  the  whole  Creation,  should  for  a  Series  of  near  twenty 
Years,  be  the  constant  But  of  Slander,  as  to  be  three  Times  ruin'd 
as  a  Master-Printer,  to  be  Nine  Times  in  Prison,  one  of  which  was 
Six  Years  together,  and  often  reduced  to  the  most  wretched  Cir- 
cumstances, hunted  as  a  Partridge  upon  the  Mountains,  and  perse- 
cuted with  the  most  abominable  Lies  the  Devil  himself  could  in- 

*  See  "Encyclopaedia  Britannica,"  vol.  xviii.,  p.  215  to  220. 


AGED    23.]         THE   FIRM    OF    FRANKLIN    AND   MEREDITH.  189 

vent,  or  Malice  utter ;  and  yet  all  this  while  never  any  wise,  good 
or  even  honest  Man  has  been  his  Enemy,  or  knew  any  Evil  of  him, 
bating  for  the  little  Mistakes  or  Peccadilloes  of  human  Nature. 
But  so  it  is  and  has  been,  that  the  Publisher  hereof  has  been  the 
Subject  of  the  most  uncommon  Treatment,  that  without  Hyperbole, 
he  may  truly  say,  no  History  can  parallel,  or  private  or  publick 
Person  ever  underwent  the  like." 

After  this  explosion,  he  proceeded  to  state  the  particular  calam- 
ity which  had  prevented  him  from  issuing  last  week's  paper: 
"Fame,  that  common  Strumpet,  who  long  has  been  my  avowed 
Enemy,  to  my  Loss  (as  I  may  truly  say,  of  several  Thousand 
Pounds),  has  so  far  debauched  my  Enemies,  that  by  their  late 
Attacks  I  was  awak'd  when  fast  asleep  in  Bed,  about  Eleven  at 
Night,  over-tir'd  with  the  Labour  of  the  Day,  and  taken  away  from 
my  Dwelling,  by  a  Writ  and  Summons,  it  being  basely  and  confi- 
dently given  out,  that  I  was  that  very  Night  about  to  run  away, 
tho'  there  was  not  the  least  Colour  or  Ground  for  such  a  vile 
Report." 

He  adds  an  inventory  of  his  possessions,  as  follows:  "I  had 
at  that  Juncture,  a  real  Estate  well  tenanted  in  this  City  that 
brought  me  in  £5  per  Annum,  at  least  160  Persons  in  my  Debt, 
some  of  whom  were  for  no  small  Sums  ;  at  the  same  Time  I  ow'd 
but  to  about  30  Persons,  but  3  of  whom  exceeded  £20  and  but  4 
more  exceeded  £10  and  the  rest  generally  but  trifling  Sums.  I  had 
at  least  at  the  rate  of  £120  per  Annum  clear  of  all  Charges  secur'd 
to  me  by  my  Newspaper,  and  Leed's  Almanack ;  was  industrious, 
frugal  and  temperate  even  to  a  Fault,  seldom  spending  above  a 
Groat  a  Day  for  my  Diet,  and  many  times  not  above  Two-pence, 
that  I  might  if  possible,  in  this  Scarcity  of  Money,  be  able  to  fulfil 
that  Command,  Owe  no  Man  any  thiyig  hut  Love;  yet  notwithstand- 
ing all  this,  so  great  was  the  Villianous  Contrivance,  Malice  and 
Baseness  of  my  Enemies,  that  I  had  Writ  upon  Writ  laid  upon  me, 
and  had  it  not  been  for  the  exceeding  Humanity,  Generosity,  Gen- 
tleman-like and  truly  Christian  Treatment  of  the  Honorable  High- 
Sheriffs  'twas  very  likely  I  should  have  been  torn  all  to  pieces,  as  I 
have  formerly  been,  and  made  a  Sacrifice  to  the  Rage  and  malice 
of  the  most  abandoned  Miscreants."  And  he  concludes  by  saying 
that  "  Several  of  my  Creditors  quickly  saw  their  Mistake,  and  per- 
ceived how  I  had  been  wronged,  generously  withdrew  their  Suits, 


190  LIFE   AND   TIMES  OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1729. 

and  most  of  my  other  Creditors  have  promised  to  allow  me  Time  to 
get  in  my  Debts." 

So  the  Universal  Instructor  in  all  Arts  and  Scienc€.s^  and  Penn- 
sylvania Gazette  was  permitted  to  live.  Keimer  struggled  on  with 
it  till  the  Thirty-ninth  Number,  and  then  gladly  sold  it  for  an  insig- 
nificant sum  to  Franklin  and  Meredith.  The  paper  then  had  ninety 
subscribers.  Poor  Keimer  soon  came  to  naught,  and  moved  away 
to  Barbadoes,  where  the  same  ill  luck  pursued  him,  I  have  ex- 
pended more  space  upon  this  man  than  was  strictly  necessary,  be- 
cause I  observe  that  some  persons  have  derived  the  impression  that 
he  was  an  amiable  little  fly  who  was  enmeshed  and  devoured  by  the 
great  and  crafty  spider,  Franklin.  A  man  of  the  Keimer  species 
always  flatters  himself  that  he  is  beset  by  enemies ;  never  suspecting 
that  he  has  but  one  enemy,  dire  and  implacable — himself. 

October  2d,  1729,  was  the  date  of  Number  Forty,  the  first  num- 
ber of  the  paper  edited  by  Franklin.  Marvelous  was  the  change 
that  came  over  the  spirit  of  this  journal  in  a  single  week.  All  its 
nonsensical  features  were  abolished  at  one  glorious  swoop.  It  be- 
came immediately  a  sensible,  well-arranged,  handsomely-printed, 
straight-forward,  business-like  sheet.  Its  preposterous  name  was 
reduced  to  Pennsylvania  Gazette^  to  which  was  added  below  in 
smaller  type,  "  containing  the  freshest  advices,  foreign  and  domes- 
tic." Keimer  had  sought  to  flatter  the  Quakers  by  adopting  their 
mode  of  numbering  the  months ;  but  Number  Forty  came  out  with 
honest  October  on  its  face  instead  of  sycophantic  "  Tenth  Month." 
The  publication  of  the  Dictionary  and  the  Religious  Courtship  was 
stopped,  and  the  paper  was  filled  with  matter  proper  for  a  news- 
paper. There  was  the  extraordinary  number  of  seven  advertise- 
ments in  Number  Forty,  one  of  which  informed  the  public  that 
Franklin  and  Meredith  had  for  sale  the  Psalms  of  Isaac  Watts,  a 
new  work  then,  that  was  having  a  great  sale  on  both  sides  of  the 
ocean.  The  paper  was  printed  in  a  style  so  superior  that  some  of 
the  early  numbers  issued  by  Franklin  and  Meredith  could  scarcely 
be  improved  upon  at  this  day.  Indeed,  no  newspaper  of  the 
United  States,  in  the  year  1861,  is  printed  so  legibly  or  so  ele- 
gantly as  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  of  1729.  The  principal  article 
in  Number  Forty,  of  an  editorial  nature,  was  the  Address  to  the 
Subscribers,  announcing  the  change  of  proprietors,  and  apologizing 
for  the  omission  of  the  Dictionary  and  the  novel.     With  regard  to 


AGED    23.]  THE    FIRM    OF    FRA.NKLIN   AND   MEEEDITH.  191 

the  Dictionary,  Franklin  said  it  would  take  fifty  years  to  print  it 
all  in  the  newspaper,  and  not  unfrequently  a  reference  was  made  in 
an  article  under  the  letter  A,  to  one  so  far  down  the  alphabet  that 
it  would  not  be  reached  in  ten  years.  And  as  to  the  novel,  copies 
would  soon  be  for  sale  in  Philadelphia. 

These  matters  disposed  of,  the  address  concluded  thus  :  "  There 
are  many  who  have  long  desired  to  see  a  good  News-Paper  in 
Pennsylvania ;  and  we  hope  those  Gentlemen  who  are  able,  will 
contribute  towards  the  making  This  such.  We  ask  Assistance, 
because  we  are  fully  sensible,  that  to  publish  a  good  News-Paper  is 
not  so  easy  an  Undertaking  as  many  People  imagine  it  to  be.  The 
Author  of  a  Gazette  (in  the  Opinion  of  the  Learned)  ought  to  be 
qualified  with  an  extensive  Acquaintance  with  Languages,  a  great 
Easiness  and  Command  of  Writing  and  Relating  Things  clearly 
and  intelligibly,  and  in  few  Words ;  he  should  be  able  to  speak  of 
War  both  by  Land  and  Sea ;  be  well  acquainted  with  Geography, 
Avith  the  History  of  the  Time,  with  the  several  Interests  of  Princes 
and  States,  the  Secrets  of  Courts,  and  the  Manners  and  Customs  of 
all  Nations.  Men  thus  accomplished  are  very  rare  in  this  remote 
Part  of  the  World ;  and  it  would  be  well  if  the  Writer  of  these 
Papers  could  make  up  among  his  Friends  what  is  wanting  in  him- 
self. Upon  the  Whole,  we  may  assure  the  Publick,  that  as  far  as  the 
Encouragement  we  meet  with  will  enable  us,  no  Care  and  Pains  shall 
be  omitted,  that  may  make  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette  as  agreeable 
and  useful  an  Entertainment  as  the  Nature  of  the  Thing  will  allow." 

Franklin  had  not  forgotten  his  boyish  adventures  in  the  New 
England  Gourant^  and  he  profited  by  the  disastrous  experience  of 
his  brother  James.  The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  was  conducted 
with  prudence;  not  the  mean  prudence  of  a  crafty  coward,  but 
with  that  noble  prudence  which  comes  of  modesty,  respect  for  the 
feelings  of  others,  a  desire  to  do  real  service,  and  an  ability,  rarely 
possessed  by  a  young  man,  of  looking  at  a  subject  in  all  its  bear- 
ings, and  of  giving  due  weight  to  all. 

For  example  : — His  first  editorial  related  to  the  long-standing  dis- 
pute between  the  Governor  and  the  Legislature  of  New  York, 
with  regard  to  the  salary  of  the  Governor.  Governor  Burnet  had 
been  instructed  to  demand  a  settled  salary  for  himself  and  his  suc- 
cessors of  a  thousand  pounds  a-year.  The  legislature  constantly  re- 
fused ;  adhering  to  the  ancient  practice  of  voting  the  Governor's 


192  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1*729. 

salary  every  year.  Franklin's  comments  upon  this  alFair  contain  so 
many  distinct  'prudences  that  it  would  require  a  long  chapter  to 
enable  the  modern  reader  to  understand  them.  He  had  to  consider 
the  recentness  of  the  revolution  of  1688,  and  the  need  there  was  of 
still  strengthening  *'the  present  establishment."  He  could  not 
forget  the  favor  which  the  Governor  of  New  York  had  shown  him 
when  he  was  a  runaway  apprentice.  Above  all,  he  had  to  stand  by 
the  people,  by  the  principles  of  English  liberty,  by  Magna  Charta, 
at  which  the  demand  for  a  settled  salary  aimed  a  blow  that  would 
be  fatal.  He  had  also  to  bear  in  mind  that  he  was  a  poor  printer  of 
twenty-three,  just  started  in  business ;  that  he  was  discoursing  of 
high  matters  and  great  personages ;  and  that  this  New  York  dis- 
pute had  a  peculiar  bearing  upon  the  politics  of  Pennsylvania,  as  his 
italics  indicate.  Of  all  these  things  the  young  editor  was  mindful ; 
and  he  produced  an  article  that  brought  over  to  the  support  of  his 
Gazette  a  large  number  of  the  most  influential  persons  in  the  prov- 
ince.* 

He  was  no  less  wise  upon  that  most  difficult  and  dangerous  of  all 
subjects — religion.  Generally  avoiding  the  topic  altogether,  he  oc- 
casionally selected  an  article  which  treated  religion  itself  with  re- 
spect, but  gave  no  support  to  the  exclusive  claims  of  some  of  the 
sects.  The  following  are  sentences  from  an  article  in  Number 
Eighty-two  :  "  Religion  has  three  great  Adversaries,  Atheism, 
Superstition,  and  Enthusiasm  :  The  first  may  be  shown  to  be  Non- 
sense, the  second  Folly,  and  the  third  Madness.  *  *  *  I  shall  begin 
with  Superstition  and  Enthusiasm;  because  as  they  are  generally 
confounded  with  Religion,  they  give  it  a  vast  Disadvantage,  when 

*  The  article  gives  first  a  history  of  the  controversy.  Then  follow  the  comments,  which  are 
these  :  "  Much  deserved  praise  has  the  deceased  governor  received  for  his  steady  integrity  in  ad- 
hering to  his  instructions,  notwithstanding  the  great  difficulty  and  opposition  he  met  with,  and  the 
strong  temptations  offered  from  time  to  time  to  induce  him  to  give  up  the  point.  And  yet  per- 
haps, something  is  due  to  the  Assembly  (as  the  love  and  zeal  of  that  country  for  the  present 
establishment  is  too  well  known  to  suffer  any  suspicion  of  want  of  loyalty),  who  continue  thus 
resolutely  to  abide  by  what  they  think  their  right  and  that  of  the  people  they  represent ;  maugre 
all  the  arts  and  menaces  of  a  governor  famed  for  his  cunning  and  politics,  backed  with  instructions 
from  home,  and  powerfully  aided  by  the  great  advantage  such  an  officer  always  has  of  engaging 
the  principal  men  of  a  place  in  his  party,  by  conferring  where  he  pleases  so  many  posts  of  profit 
and  honor.  Their  happy  mother  country  will  perhaps  observe  with  pleasure,  that  though  her 
gallant  cocks  and  matchless  dogs  abate  their  natural  fire  and  intrepidity,  when  transported  to  a 
foreign  clime  (as  this  nation  is),  yet  her  sons  in  the  remotest  part  of  the  earth,  and  even  to  the 
third  and  fourth  descent,  still  retain  that  ardent  spirit  of  liberty,  and  that  undaunted  courage 
which  have  in  every  age  so  gloriously  distinguished  Britons  and  Englishmen  from  the  rest  of 
mankind." 


AGED    23.]  THE    FIEM    OF   FEANKLIN   AND   MEBEDITH.  193 

it  is  at  any  Time  compared  with  Atheism,  or  Irreligion  (its  proper 
Opposite)  by  discolouring  it  with  all  the  Absurdities  which  belong 
only  to  them.  But  Superstition  being  the  more  prevailing  Extrav- 
agance of  the  two,  I  shall  first  take  that  Folly  to  task,  and  enquire 
into  its  principal  Causes  and  Effects.  *  *  *  *  j  dismiss  my  Reader 
with  this  summary  Remark  upon  what  has  been  said  :  That  as  the 
Christian  Religion  is  the  Best  of  all  Religions,  so  Christian  Super- 
stition, which  is  the  Corruption  of  it,  is  the  Worst  of  all  Supersti- 
tions." 

The  people  of  Philadelphia  approved  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette^ 
as  conducted  by  its  new  proprietors.  When  but  three  numbers  had 
appeared  under  their  auspices,  they  announced  that  they  had  met 
with  sufficient  encouragement  to  induce  them  to  continue  the  paper, 
and  to  increase  their  facilities  for  obtaining  news.  "  We  shall  from 
time  to  time  have  all  the  noted  Publick  Prints  from  Great  Britain, 
New-England,  New  York,  Maryland  and  Jamaica,  besides  what 
News  may  be  collected  from  private  Letters  and  Informations  ;  and 
we  doubt  not  of  continuing  to  give  our  Customers  all  the  Satisfac- 
tion they  expect  from  a  Performance  of  this  Nature." 

Nevertheless,  their  business  was  still  upon  a  very  small  scale. 
Franklin  and  Meredith  were  still  poor  printers,  doing  all  their  work 
themselves,  having  not  even  a  boy  to  assist  them.  Nay,  the  greater 
part  of  the  work  was  done  by  Franklin's  own  hands,  for  Meredith, 
besides  being  a  poor  workman,  had  fallen  again  into  his  habit  of 
drinking,  and  was  seldom  sober. 

A  debt  that  ought  not  to  have  been  incurred,  or  that  ought  to 
have  been  paid  long  ago,  is  apt  to  be  at  last  presented  for  payment 
at  the  most  inconvenient  of  all  possible  moments.  A  gentle  re- 
minder from  Mr.  Vernon  reached  our  young  friend,  just  when  he 
was  straining  every  nerve  and  devoting  every  penny  to  strengthen 
his  still  uncertain  business.  He  wrote  to  his  creditor,  frankly  con- 
fessing his  fault  and  asking  a  little  longer  forbearance.  His  request 
was  freely  granted,  and  before  many  months  more  had  elapsed,  he 
had  the  delight  of  paying  both  principal  and  interest  of  a  debt  that 
had  weighed  heavily  upon  his  conscience  for  more  than  seven 
years. 

Tlie  new  firm  contrived  very  soon  to  get  a  share  of  the  public 
printing,  previously  done  by  Bradford.    Bradford  printed  the  Gov- 
ernor's Address  this  year  so  inelegantly  and  incorrectly,  that  Franl. 
9 


194  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1730. 

lin,  quick  to  seize  an  opportunity,  struck  off  an  edition,  executed 
in  his  best  manner,  and  sent  a  copy  to  each  member  of  the  assem- 
bly, who  then  numbered  about  thirty.  The  difference  between  the 
two  versions  was  noted  and  remembered.  Andrew  Hamilton, 
whom  Franklin  had  served  in  London,  was  then  in  the  House, 
wherein  Franklin  had  other  zealous  friends,  to  say  nothing  of  thoso 
who  wished  to  stand  well  with  a  young,  printer,  who,  to  use  that 
young  printer's  own  w^ords,  "  had  learned  to  scribble  a  little."  The 
result  was,  that  to  Franklin  and  Meredith  was  assigned  the  print- 
ing for  the  assembly  for  the  next  year.  It  was  not  great  in  amount, 
but  it  was  a  lift  to  beginners,  gave  them  standing,  and  prepared 
the  way  for  other  and  better  public  work.  Before  long,  the  new 
paper  money  was  to  be  printed.  Franklin's  friends  in  the  House, 
urging  his  claims  as  author  of  the  pamphlet,  procured  for  him  this 
profitable  job,  which  was  a  great  and  timely  help.  "This  was  an- 
other advantage,"  he  says,  "  gained  by  my  being  able  to  write." 

But  his  footing  in  the  world  was  still  so  far  from  being  secure, 
that,  after  a  severe  struggle  of  two  years,  he  seemed  in  danger  of 
losing  the  little  headway  he  had  gained.  Their  materials  had  cost 
two  hundred  pounds,  which  sura  the  elder  Meredith  had  agreed  to 
advance.  Owing  to  some  misfortunes,  he  was  able  to  raise  but  one- 
half  of  that  sum,  leaving  a  hundred  pounds  to  be  paid  by  a  firm 
that  could  not  spare  from  their  business  a  hundred  shillings.  The 
merchant,  who  had  imported  the  articles,  became  impatient,  sued 
all  the  parties  concerned,  and  threatened  the  young  printers  with 
ruin.  They  obtained  bail,  which  secured  them  a  brief  respite — but 
only  a  respite.  How  real  the  peril  was,  and  how  acutely  Franklin 
felt  it,  we  still  discern  in  the  fervor  with  which,  after  the  lapse  of 
forty  happy  years,  he  pours  forth  his  gratitude  to  the  friends  who 
generously  came  to  his  rescue.  "  In  this  distress,"  he  says,  "  two 
true  friends,  whose  kindness  I  have  never  forgotten,  nor  ever  shall 
forget  while  I  can  remember  any  thing,  came  to  me  separately, 
unknown  to  each  other,  and  without  any  application  from  me, 
offered  each  of  them  to  advance  me  all  the  money  that  should  be 
necessary  to  enable  me  to  take  the  whole  business  upon  myself,  if 
that  should  be  practicable;  but  they  did  not  like  my  continuing  the 
partnership  with  Meredith,  who,  as  they  said,  was  often  seen  drunk 
in  the  street,  playing  at  low  games  in  alehouses,  much  to  our  dis- 
credit." 


AGED  24.]  THE   FIEM    OF   FRANKLIN   AND   MEREDITH.  195 

These  two  friends  were  William  Coleman  and  Robert  Grace, 
members  of  the  Junto,  and  extremely  dear  to  Franklin  as  long  as 
they  lived.  He  told  them  he  felt  grateful  to  the  Merediths  for 
what  they  had  done,  and  he  could  not  propose  a  separation  as  long 
as  there  was  any  prospect  of  their  fulfilling  their  agreement.  If, 
however,  they  should  finally  fail  to  do  so,  the  partnership  would  be 
dissolved  of  course,  and  then  he  should  think  himself  at  liberty  to 
accept  the  proffered  assistance.  Soon  after,  Franklin  said  to  his 
partner:  "Perhaps  your  father  is  dissatisfied  at  the  part  you  have 
undertaken  in  this  aflTair  of  ours,  and  is  unwilling  to  advance  for  you 
and  me,  what  he  would  for  you.  If  that  is  the  case,  tell  me,  and  I 
will  resign  the  Avhole  to  you,  and  go  about  my  business." 

To  this  Meredith  replied :  "  No ;  my  father  has  really  been  disap- 
pointed, and  is  really  unable ;  and  I  am  unwilling  to  distress  him 
further.  I  see  this  is  a  business  I  am  not  fit  for.  I  was  bred  a  far- 
mer, and  it  was  folly  in  me  to  come  to  town,  and  put  myself,  at 
thirty  years  of  age,  an  apprentice  to  learn  a  new  trade.  Many  of 
our  Welsh  people  are  going  to  settle  in  North  Carolina,  where  land 
is  cheap.  I  am  inclined  to  go  with  them,  and  follow  my  old  em- 
ployment ;  you  may  find  friends  to  assist  you.  If  you  will  take  the 
debts  of  the  company  upon  you,  return  to  my  father  the  hundred 
pounds  he  has  advanced,  pay  my  little  personal  debts,  and  give  me 
thirty  pounds  and  a  new  saddle,  I  will  relinquish  the  partnership 
and  leave  the  whole  in  your  hands." 

Franklin  accepted  the  proposal  on  the  instant,  borrowed  a  hun- 
dred pounds  from  each  of  his  two  generous  friends,  paid  ofi'both 
the  Merediths,  and  went  on  with  the  business  alone.  The  partner- 
ship was  dissolved  July  14th,  1730,  but  was  not  announced  in  the 
newspaper  until  May  11th,  1732,  which  was  about  the  time  when 
he  had  paid  all  his  debts,  and  felt  himself  a  free  man. 

From  this  time  his  progress  was  uninterrupted,  though  not 
yet  rapid.  His  powerful  patron,  Andrew  Hamilton,  procured  for 
him,  soon  after,  the  printing  of  the  paper  money  and  laws  of  Dela- 
ware, which  he  retained  as  long  as  he  continued  in  business.  He 
opened  a  small  stationer's  shop,  as  the  custom  of  printers  then  was, 
in  which  he  sold  blanks  of  all  kinds,  corrected  with  great  care 
by  Joseph  Breintnal,  paper,  parchment,  ink,  lamp-black,  and  ped- 
dlers' books.  He  now  engaged  a  journeyman,  one  whom  he  had 
known  in  London,  and  took  an  apprentice,  the  son  of  the  poet 


196  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OIT   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1730. 

Aquila  Rose.  At  this  period  he  says  he  not  only  was  industrious, 
but  took  care  to  let  his  neighbors  see  that  he  was  so.  He  dressed 
plainly,  attended  no  places  of  public  diversion,  never  went  fishing 
or  shooting ;  and  to  show  that  he  was  not  above  his  business,  some- 
times brought  home  the  paper  he  had  purchased  through  the 
streets  in  a  wheelbarrow.  His  credit  constantly  improved,  and  his 
business  steadily  increased. 

Nevertheless,  he  did  not  vat  feel  himself  quite  safe.  David 
Harry,  formerly  an  apprentice  of  Keimer's,  had  bought  the  business 
of  that  unfortunate  person  on  his  removal  to  Barbadoes,  and  now 
threatened  to  become  a  powerful  rival  to  Franklin.  Harry  had 
rich  friends  who  could  influence  a  great  amount  of  business.  Frank- 
lin proposed  a  partnership  to  him,  which  the  young  gentleman  re- 
jected with  scorn.  Soon  he,  too,  went  the  way  of  fools.  He 
dressed  and  lived  expensively,  neglected  his  business,  got  into  debt, 
lost  his  customers,  and,  at  last,  was  obliged  to  follow  his  old  mas- 
ter to  Barbadoes.*  The  coast  was  then  clear  for  Franklin,  Andrew 
Bradford  being  old,  rich,  careless,  and  in  no  way  formidable.  Brad- 
ford, however,  had  one  great  advantage  in  being  postmaster,  since 
the  postmaster  had  it  in  his  power  to  prevent  the  post-riders  from 
carrying  all  newspapers  but  his  own.  Franklin  did,  indeed,  both 
send  and  receive  newspapers  by  the  post,  but  it  was  only  by  bri- 
bing the  riders ;  and  the  public,  not  being  aware  of  the  fact,  long 
supposed  that  Bradford's  Mercury  was  a  better  sheet  for  adverti- 
sing than  Franklin's  Gazette^  and  gave  their  patronage  accordingly. 
Bradford's  conduct  in  forbidding  the  riders  to  carry  the  Gazette 
excited  the  disgust  of  Franklin.  "I  thought  so  meanly  of  the 
practice,"  he  says,  "that  when  I  afterwards  came  into  his  situation, 
I  took  care  never  to  imitate  it," — a  golden  sentence,  a  magnificent 
revenge. 

*  We  have  a  trace  of  David  Harry  ia  a  curious  advertisement  of  a  book  in  the  Pennsylvania 
Gazette,  for  February  3d,  1T30 :  "  An  Elegy  on  the  Death  of  that  Ancient,  Renowned  and  Useful 
Matron  and  Midwife,  Mrs.  Mary  Broadwell,  who  rested  from  her  Labors,  Jan.  2d,  1730,  aged 
one  hundred  years  and  one  day.    Sold  by  David  Harry,  Printer,  in  Philadelphia." 


AGED    24.]  HE   FOUNDS   THE   LIBBAKY.  197 


CHAPTER  II. 

HE   FOUNDS   THE   LIBRARY. 

Seeing  his  way  clear  to  the  gradual  formation  of  a  safe  and 
profitable  business,  it  was  natural  his  thoughts  should  be  turned  to 
marriage.  It  must  be  confessed  that  Franklin's  relation  of  the 
events  which  led  to  his  marriage  is  calculated  to  shock  a  novel- 
reading  generation  ;  and  I  approach  it  myself  with  a  slight  shud- 
der. Similar  things  occur,  perhaps,  in  these  days,  but  they  are  not 
told  in  such  a  blunt,  unconscious  way. 

Mrs.  Godfrey,  with  whom  he  still  boarded,  projected  a  match 
for  him  with  a  Miss  Godfrey,  the  daughter  of  one  of  her  relations. 

"She  took  opportunities,"  says  Franklin,  "of  bringing  us  often 
together,  till  a  serious  courtship  on  my  part  ensued,  the  girl  being 
in  herself  very  deserving.  The  old  folks  encouraged  me  by  con- 
tinual invitations  to  supper,  and  by  leaving  us  together,  till  at 
lent^-th  it  was  time  to  explain.  Mrs.  Godfrey  managed  our  little 
treaty.  I  let  her  know  that  I  expected  as  much  money  with  their 
daughter  as  would  pay  off  my  remaining  debt  for  the  printing- 
house;  which  I  believe  was  not  then  above  a  hundred  pounds. 
She  brought  me  word  they  had  no  such  sum  to  spare  :  I  said  they 
might  mortgage  their  house  in  the  loan  office.  The  answer  to  this 
after  some  days  was,  that  they  did  not  approve  the  match ;  that, 
on  inquiry  of  Bradford,  they  had  been  informed  the  printing  busi- 
ness was  not  a  profitable  one ;  the  types  would  soon  be  worn  out, 
and  more  wanted ;  that  Keimer  and  David  Harry  had  failed  one 
after  the  other,  and  I  should  probably  soon  follow  them;  and, 
therefore,  I  was  forbidden  the  house,  and  the  daughter  shut  up. 
Whether  this  was  a  real  change  of  sentiment,  or  only  artifice  on  a 
supposition  of  our  being  too  far  engaged  in  affection  to  retract,  and 
therefore  that  we  should  steal  a  marriage,  which  would  leave  them 
at  liberty  to  give  or  withhold  Avhat  they  pleased,  I  know  not.  But 
I  suspected  the  motive,  resented  it,  and  went  no  more.  Mrs.  God- 
frey brought  me  afterward  some  more  favorable  accounts  of  their 
disposition,  and  would  have  drawn  me  on  again ;  but  I  declared 
absolutely  my  resolution  to  have  nothing  more  to  do  with  that 
family.     Tiiis  was  resented  by   the   Godfreys;   we  differed,   and 


198  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [l730. 

they  removed,  leaving  me  the  whole  house,  and  I  resolved  to  take 
no  more  inmates." 

Cool,  for  a  swain  of  twenty-four.  Rather  exacting,  too,  consider- 
ing that  the  swain  had  a  little  incumbrance  somewhere  in  Philadel- 
phia, not  many  months  old.  We  must  fall  back  upon  the  indispu- 
table fact,  that  all  marriages,  at  that  day,  partook  of  the  nature  of 
a  business  compact.  It  does  not  appear  that  marriages  were  less 
happy  because  the  excessive  prudence  of  parents  was  permitted  to 
check  the  excessive  ardor  of  youth.  Let  us  consider,  also,  that, 
before  modern  commerce,  emigration,  and  the  steam-engine  had 
given  such  amazing  extension  to  the  business  of  the  world,  and 
had  created  so  many  opportunities  of  rapid  gain,  and  had  given 
the  prize  of  success  to  brains  rather  than  to  plodding,  property  was 
accumulated  with  exceeding  slowness,  and  carried  with  it  a  weight 
which  it  does  not  now  possess.  Frugality  and  industry  were  the 
only  ways  to  wealth  known  to  our  forefathers ;  and  a  man  did  well 
who  by  the  exercise  of  those  virtues  during  a  long  life  gained  a 
decent  provision  for  his  old  age.  A  hundred  pounds  was  a  hun- 
dred pounds  when  poor  Richard  went  courting.  It  actually  repre- 
sented a  thousand  acts  of  self-denial,  and  placed  the  man  who  had 
it  a  very  long  way  in  advance  of  one  who  had  it  not.  We  must 
read  Franklin's  account  of  his  courtship,  as  well  as  the  prudential 
maxims  of  poor  Richard,  by  "  the  light  of  other  days." 

Deborah  Read,  meanwhile,  was  dejected  and  solitary.  It  was 
believed,  but  was  not  known,  that  the  runaway  potter  whom  she  had 
married,  had  had  a  wife  living  at  the  time.  It  was  rumored,  but 
not  ascertained,  that  the  potter  had  since  died  in  the  West  Indies. 
Franklin  was  still  intimate  in  the  family,  who  often  consulted  him 
upon  their  aifairs.  He  lamented  the  lady's  unhappy  state,  and 
attributed  it  to  his  own  "giddiness  and  inconstancy  when  in  Lon- 
don." The  mother,  however,  blamed  herself,  because  she  had 
urged  on  the  unfortunate  marriage  in  the  absence  of  Franklin,  who, 
if  he  had  found  the  young  lady  unmarried  on  his  return  from  Lon- 
don, would  doubtless  have  renewed  his  suit.  Pitying  her  forlorn 
condition  and  reproaching  himself  as  its  cause,  his  fondness  for  her 
revived;  and,  at  length,  he  proposed  that  they  should  risk  the 
possible  consequences  of  marriage.  The  match  was  not  unequal, 
since  his  child  was  an  ample  set  oif  against  the  disadvantages 
under  which  she  labored.     He  would,  perhaps,  have  mentioned  the 


AGED  24.]  HE   FOUNDS    THE   LIBRARY.  199 

equalizing  circumstance  in  his  Autobiography,  but  that  his  Auto- 
biography was  addressed  to  the  only  individual  in  the  world  who 
could  never  be  spoken  to  upon  the  subject.*  September  1st, 
1730,  Benjamin  Franklin  and  Deborah  Read  were  married. £  '^^  '/iv*^ 

Rogers,  the  potter,  never  appeared  to  disturb  their  tranquillity, 
for  he  was  really  dead ;  nor  was  Franklin  ever  sued  for  his  nume- 
rous debts,  as  he  had  feared  he  might  be.  The  child  was  taken 
home,  and  reared  as  if  he  had  been  born  to  them  in  wedlock.  Of 
its  mother  nothing  whatever  is  known. 

Mrs.  Franklin  was  an  industrious,  thrifty,  capable,  kind  woman. 
She  attended  her  husband's  little  shop,  bought  the  rags  for  the 
new  pa])er.-mill,  stitched  pamphlets,  folded  newspapers,  taught  her 
husband  to  be  economical,  tenderly  nurtured  his  child,  and  proved 
herself,  in  all  ways,  a  generous  and  faithful  helpmeet.  Long  after- 
wards, he  wrote  to  her,  when  far  away :  "  It  was  a  comfort  to  me 
to  recollect  that  I  had  once  been  clothed  from  head  to  foot  in 
woolen  and  linen  of  my  wife's  manufacture,  and  that  I  never  was 
prouder  of  any  dress  in  my  life."  She  was  a  cheerful,  tolerant 
soul,  freely  allowing  for  the  foibles  and  faults  of  human  nature. 
A  remark  of  hers  which  Franklin  quotes  in  one  of  his  letters, 
about  people  who  are  punctilious  and  exacting  in  trifles,  does  her 
much  honor:  "If  people  can  be  pleased  with  small  matters,  it 
is  a  pity  but  they  should  have  them."  To  say  that  she  was  an 
illiterate  woman,  is  only  to  say  that  she  lived  in  the  last  century. 
Her  letters  are  as  full  of  bad  spelling  as  they  are  of  homely  sense  and 
loving  kindness.  She  was  a  finely  formed,  handsome  woman,  with 
a  fair  and  pleasant  countenance.  Her  children  and  even  her  grand- 
children were  celebrated  for  their  beauty  throughout  the  colonies. 

And  let  us  say  of  him,  that  though  he  had  not  been  an  ardent 
lover,  like  the  lovers  we  like  to  read  of  in  fiction,  he  was  a  fiithfal, 
tender,  and  considerate  husband ;  of  whom  his  wife  was  proud,  in 
whom  his  wife  was  happy.  "  We  throve  together,"  says  Frank- 
lin, "  and  ever  endeavored  to  make  each  other  happy."  It  were 
well  if  all  lovers  of  the  ardent  description  could  say  the  same  after 
a  married  life  of  forty  years.  Their  home,  at  first,  was  plain  and 
frugal  in  the  extreme.  "We  kept  no  idle  servants,"  says  Frank- 
lin ;  "  our  table  was  plain  and  simple,  our  furniture  of  the  cheap- 

*  The  first  part  of  the  Autobiography  was  addressed  to  this  son,  Gov.  William  Franklin,  of 
New  Jersey. 


200  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN  FHANKLIN.  [l731. 

est.  For  instance,  my  breakfast  was,  for  a  long  time,  bread  and 
milk  (no  tea),  and  I  ate  it  out  of  a  twopenny  earthen  porringer, 
with  a  pewter  spoon:  but  mark  how  luxury  will  enter  fjimilies, 
and  make  a  progress  in  spite  of  principle ;  being  called  one  morn- 
ing to  breakflist,  I  found  it  in  a  china  bowl,  with  a  spoon  of  silver. 
They  had  been  bought  for  me  without  my  knowledge  by  my  wife, 
and  had  cost  her  the  enormous  sum  of  three-and -twenty  shillings  ; 
for  which  she  had  no  other  excuse  or  apology  to  make,  but  that 
she  thought  Aer  husband  deserved  a  silver  spoon  and  china  bowl 
as  well  as  any  of  his  neighbors.  This  was  the  first  appearance  of 
plate  and  china  in  our  house,  which  afterward,  in  a  course  of  years, 
as  our  wealth  increased,  augmented  gradually  to  several  hundred 
pounds  in  value." 

It  was  but  a  few  months  after  his  marriage,  while  still  living  in 
tbis  lowly  and  frugal  manner,  still  wearing  his  leathern  apron,  still 
wheeling  home  his  purchases  of  stationery,  still  making  his  lamp- 
black and  mixing  his  ink,  still  battling  with  the  difficulties  attend- 
ing the  establishment  of  a  new  business,  that  he  set  on  foot  the 
measures  which  resulted  in  the  founding  of  what  may  be  truly 
styled  the  most  useful  library  that  ever  existed. 

When  the  Junto  was  first  formed,  its  meetings  were  held  (as 
the  custom  of  clubs  was  in  that  clubbing  age)  in  a  tavern  ;  and  in 
a  tavern  of  such  humble  pretensions  as  to  be  called  by  Franklin  an 
ale-house.  But  the  leathern-aproned  philosophers  soon  removed  to 
a  room  of  their  own,  lent  them  by  one  of  their  members,  Robert 
Grace.  It  often  happened  that  a  member  would  bring  a  book  or 
two  to  the  Junto,  for  the  purpose  of  illustrating  the  subject  of 
debate,  and  this  led  Franklin  to  propose  that  all  the  members 
should  keep  their  books  in  the  Junto  room,  as  well  for  reference 
while  debating  as  for  the  use  of  members  during  the  week.  The 
suggestion  being  approved,  one  end  of  their  little  apartment  was 
soon  filled  with  books ;  and  there  they  remained  for  the  common 
benefit  a  year.  But  some  books  having  been  injured,  their  own- 
ers became  dissatisfied,  and  the  books  were  all  taken  home. 
Books  were  then  scarce,  high-priced,  and  of  great  bulk.  Folios 
were  still  common,  and  a  book  of  less  magnitude  than  quarto  was 
deemed  insignificant.  If  any  Philadelphian  of  the  present  day 
should  venture  to  take  from  the  library  James  Ralph's  two  folios 
on  the  reign  of  William  III.,  he  could  scarcely  carry  them  home 


AGED    25.]  HE   FOUNDS    THE    LIBEABT.  201 

without  assistance.  Few  books  of  much  importance  were  pub- 
lished at  less  than  two  guineas.  Such  prices  as  four  guineas,  five 
guineas,  and  six  guineas  were  not  uncommon. 

Deprived  of  the  advantage  of  the  Junto  collection,  Franklin  con- 
ceived the  idea  of  a  subscription  library.  Early  in  1731  he  drew 
up  a  plan,  the  substance  of  which  was,  that  each  subscriber  should 
contribute  two  pounds  sterling  for  the  first  purchase  of  books,  and 
ten  shillings  a  year  for  the  increase  of  the  library.  As  few  of  the 
inhabitants  of  Philadelphia  had  money  to  spare,  and  still  fewer 
cared  for  reading,  he  found  very  great  difficulty  in  procuring  a 
sufficient  number  of  subscribers.  He  says :  "  I  put  myself  as  much 
as  I  could  out  of  sight,  and  stated  it  as  a  scheme  of  a  numher  of 
friends^  who  had  requested  me  to  go  about  and  propose  it  to  such 
as  they  thought  lovers  of  reading.  In  this  way  my  affairs  went  on 
more  smoothly,  and  I  ever  after  practiced  it  on  such  occasions, 
and  from  my  frequent  successes  can  heartily  recommend  it."  Yet 
it  was  not  until  N'ovember,  1731,  at  least  five  months  after  the 
project  was  started,  that  fifty  names  were  obtained ;  and  not  till 
March,  1732,  that  the  money  was  collected.  After  consulting 
James  Logan,  "  the  best  judge  of  books  in  these  parts,"  the  first 
list  of  books  was  made  out,  a  draft  upon  London  of  forty-five 
pounds  was  purchased,  and  both  were  placed  in  the  hands  of  one 
of  the  directors  who  was  going  to  England.  Peter  CoUinson 
undertook  the  purchase,  and  added  to  it  presents  of  Newton's 
"Principia,"  and  "  Gardener's  Dictionary."  All  the  business  of  the 
library  Mr.  Collinson  continued  to  transact  for  thirty  years,  and 
always  swelled  the  annual  parcel  of  books  by  gifts  of  valuable 
works.  In  those  days  getting  a  parcel  from  London  was  a 
tedious  affair  indeed.  All  the  summer  of  1732,  the  subscribers 
were  waiting  for  the  coming  of  the  books,  as  for  an  event  of  the 
greatest  interest.  Among  Franklin's  Junto  memoranda  at  this  time 
the  following  sentence  occurs,  which  was  probably  presented  to 
the  Junto  as  a  resolution :  "  When  the  books  of  the  library  come, 
every  member  shall  undertake  some  author,  that  he  may  not  be 
without  observations  to  communicate." 

In  October  the  books  arrived,  and  were  placed,  at  first,  in  the 

room  of  the  Junto.     A  librarian  was  appointed,  and  the  library 

was  opened  once  a  week  for  givmg  out  the  books.     The  second  year 

Franklin  himself  served  as  librarian.     For  many  years  the  secre- 

9* 


J 


202  LIFS    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAISHN   FRANKLIN.  [l732. 

tary  to  the  directors  was  Joseph  Breintnal,  by  whose  zeal  and  dili- 
gence the  interests  of  the  library  were  greatly  promoted.  Frank- 
lin printed  a  catalogue  soon  after  the  arrival  of  the  books,  for 
which,  and  for  other  printing,  he  was  exempted  fi-om  paying  his 
annual  ten  shillings  for  two  years. 

The  success  of  this  library,  thus  begun  by  a  few  mechanics  and 
clerks,  was  great  in  every  sense  of  the  word.  Valuable  donations 
of  books,  money,  and  curiosities  were  frequently  made  to  it.  The 
number  of  subscribers  slowly,  but  steadily  increased.  Libraries 
of  similar  character  sprung  up  all  over  the  country,  and  many 
were  started  even  in  Philadelphia.  Kalm,  who  was  in  Philadelphia 
in  1748,  says  that  then  the  parent  library  had  given  rise  to  "many 
little  libraries,"  on  the  same  plan  as  itself.  He  also  says  that  non- 
subscribers  were  then  allowed  to  take  books  out  of  the  library,  by 
leaving  a  pledge  for  the  value  of  the  book,  and  paying  for  a  folio 
eight  pence  a  week,  for  a  quarto  six  pence,  and  for  all  others  four 
pence.  "  The  subscribers,"  he  says,  "  were  so  kind  to  me  as  to 
order  the  librarian,  during  my  stay  here,  to  lend  me  every  book  I 
should  want,  without  requiring  any  payment  of  me."  In  1764,  the 
shares  had  risen  in  value  to  nearly  twenty  pounds,  and  the  collec- 
tion was  considered  to  be  worth  seventeen  hundred  pounds.  In 
1785,  the  number  of  volumes  was  5,487  ;  in  1807,  14,457  ;  in  1861, 
70,000.  The  institution  is  one  of  the  few  in  America  that  has  held 
on  its  way,  unchanged  in  any  essential  principle,  for  a  century  and 
a  quarter,  always  on  the  increase,  always  faithfully  administered, 
always  doing  well  its  appointed  work.  There  is  every  reason  to 
believe  that  it  will  do  so  for  centuries  to  come. 

The  prosperity  of  the  Philadelphia  Library  was  owing  to  the 
original  excellence  of  the  plan,  the  good  sense  embodied  in  the 
rules,  the  care  with  which  its  afiairs  were  conducted,  and  the  vigi- 
lance of  Franklin  and  his  friends  in  turning  to  account  passing 
events.  Thomas  Penn,  for  example,  visited  Philadelphia  a  year  or 
two  after  the  library  was  founded ;  when  the  directors  of  the 
library  waited  upon  him  with  a  dutiful  address,  and  received,  in  re-, 
turn,  a  gift  of  books  and  apparatus. 

It  were  difficult  to  over-estimate  the  value  to  the  colonies  of  the 
libraries  that  grew  out  of  FrankUn's  original  conception.  They 
were  among  the  chief  means  of  educating  the  colonies  up  to  Inde- 
pendence.    "Reading  became  fashionable,"  says  Franklin;  "and 


AGED  26.]  HE   FOUNDS   THE  LIBRARY.  203 

our  people  having  no  public  amusements  to  divert  their  attention 
from  study,  became  better  acquainted  with  books,  and  in  a  few 
years  were  observed  by  strangers,  to  be  better  instructed  and  more 
intelligent  than  people  of  the  same  rank  generally  are  in  other 
countries."  Mrs.  John  Adams,  in  one  of  her  letters  from  England, 
in  1785,  says  :  "You  can  scarcely  form  an  idea  how  much  superior 
our  common  people,  as  they  are  termed,  are  to  those  of  the  same 
rank  in  this  country."*  The  entire  mass  of  revolutionary  docu- 
ments and  correspondence  is  an  eternal  record  of  the  genuine  cul- 
ture and  elevation  of  mind  that  prevailed  among  the  leading  men 
of  colonial  America.  What  the  Philadelphia  Library  did  for 
Franklin  himself,  the  libraries,  doubtless,  did  for  many  others.  It 
made  him  a  daily  student  for  twenty  years.  He  set  apart  an  hour 
or  two  every  day  for  study,  and  thus  acquired  the  substance  of  all 
the  most  valuable  knowledge  then  possessed  by  mankmd. 

Whether  Franklin  was  the  originator  of  subscription  libraries, 
and  of  the  idea  of  permitting  books  to  be  taken  to  the  homes  of 
subscribers,  I  cannot  positively  assert.  But  I  can  discover  no  trace 
of  either  of  those  two  fruitful  conceptions  before  his  time.  Libra- 
ries are  nearly  as  ancient  as  books,  but  all  the  old  libraries  appear 
to  have  been  like  the  old-fashioned  wells,  to  which  every  one  had  to 
go  who  wanted  water :  a  lending  library  is  a  Croton  Aqueduct, 
with  pipes  laid  in  every  house  that  chooses  to  pay  for  them.  The 
universal  diffusion  of  knowledge,  for  which  civilization  waits,  had 
been  forever  impossible  without  permanent,  self-sustaining  town 
A  and  village  libraries,  on  a  plan  similar  to  that  of  the  library  founded 
in  Philadelphia,  in  1732. 

Before  resuming  our  narrative  of  Franklin's  career  as  a  man  of 
business,  it  may  conduce  to  the  better  understanding  of  the  subject 
if  we  give  a  few  particulars  respecting  the  importance  and  resources 
of  Philadelphia  at  the  time  when  he  was  making  his  fortune  there. 
Perhaps,  too,  a  few  words  respecting  the  appearance  of  the  place, 
and  the  ways  of  its  inhabitants,  may  not  be  unacceptable  to  some 
readers. 

♦•"Letters  of  Mrs.  John  Adams,"  11.,  108. 


204  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJA]VIIN  FEANKLIN.  [1732. 


CHAPTER  III. 

OLD   PHILADELPHIA. 

"  O,  Pennsylvania,"  Avrote  "William  Penn,  in  1704,  sixteen 
years  after  the  settlement  of  the  province,  "  what  hast  thou  not  cost 
me  !  Above  thirty  thousand  pounds  more  than  I  ever  got  by  it; 
two  hazardous  and  most  Hitiguing ,  voyages,  and  my  son's  soul 
almost."*  He  was  actually  detained  in  London  at  one  time  for 
lack  of  money  with  which  to  pay  his  passage  to  Philadelphia. 

William  Penn  died  in  1718.  Twenty-five  years  after  his  death, 
when  Franklin  was  in  the  midst  of  his  business  career,  Pennsyl- 
vania contained  a  population  of  a  hundred  thousand ;  Philadelphia 
was  a  city  of  ten  thousand  inhabitants  ;  the  sons  of  William  Penn 
drew  from  the  province  an  annual  revenue  of  twenty  thousand 
pounds,  and  valued  their  American  estate  at  ten  millions  sterling. 
The  nearest  large  town  to  Philadelphia  being  Kew  York  (Balti- 
more, founded  in  1729,  contained  but  fifty  houses  in  1765),  the 
capital  of  Pennsylvania  served  as  chief  city  and  market-town  to  a 
great  part  of  'New  Jersey,  and  to  the  settlements  in  Delaware. 
Perhaps,  in  1750,  Philadelphia  was  the  business  center  for  a  popu- 
lation of  one  hundred  and  fifty  thousand.  There  were  then  living 
persons  who  remembered  when  the  site  of  the  city  was  a  forest ; 
the  first-born  of  Philadelphia  was  a  man  of  sixty-two ;  bears, 
wolves,  and  wild  turkeys  were  shot  within  eight  miles  of  the  State- 
House. 

The  chief  cause  of  Pennsylvania's  rapid  growth  was  not  the 
pleasantness  of  the  climate,  nor  the  fertility  of  the  soil,  nor  the  con- 
venience of  the  situation,  though  these  were  causes  of  its  pros- 
perity. Pennsylvania  throve  because  William  Penn  had  been  just. 
He  placed  all  the  religious  sects  upon  an  equality  before  the  law, 
claiming  for  his  own  no  exclusive  advantage,  dearly  as  he  loved  it. 
It  was  this  that  made  Philadelphia  the  desire  of  persecuted  Protest- 
ants in  Germany,  Sweden,  and  Switzerland.  The  perfect  peace 
with  the  Indians,  which  the  colony  enjoyed  for  more  than  fifty 

*  A  son  of  William  Penn  became  exceedingly  dissipated  while  his  father  was  absent  in 
Am.enca,.—Jaimey's  IJ/eof  WilliamPenn,  p.  471. 


AGED  26.]  OLD   PHILADELPHIA.  205 

years,  because  William  Penn  had  considered  the  rights  and  the 
feelings  of  the  Indians,*  was  the  crowning  inducement  that  lured 
so  many  emigrants  to  Pennsylvania.  Wars  w^th  the  Indians  deso- 
lated the  other  provinces  of  Korth  America,  but  Pennsylvania 
knew  scarcely  an  alarm  till  Braddock's  defeat.  For  a  century, 
Philadelphia  was  the  central  point  of  the  emigration  to  America. 
For  a  century,  Pennsylvania  advanced  more  rapidly  in  population 
and  wealth,  and  in  the  civilization  that  comes  of  population  and 
wealth,  than  any  other  of  the  British  provinces.  In  the  summer  of 
1749,  for  example,  twelve  thousand  Germans,  twenty-five  ship- 
loads, landed  at  Philadelphia,  and  made  their  way  to  settlements  in 
the  interior ;  nor  was  this  number  above  the  average  of  other  years. f 
Philadelphia  was  then  what  its  founder  wished  it  always  to  remain, 
"  a  green,  country  place."  It  extended  a  mile  along  the  Delaware, 
and  half  a  mile  into  the  country.  The  houses,  even  then,  were 
mostly  of  brick  and  stone,  and  each  house  stood  apart  from  the 
rest,  and  was  surrounded  by  gardens  and  trees.  Every  family  kept 
its  cows,  which  grazed  on  the  common  lands  in  the  outskirts  of  the 
town.  Professor  Kalm  mentions  that  there  were  fine  orchards  all 
about  the  city  in  1748,  and  that  peaches  were  so  abundant  that 
pigs  were  fed  uj)on  them.  "The  country  people  in  Sweden  and 
Finland,"  he  adds,  "guard  their  turnips  more  carefully  than  the 
people  here  do  the  most  exquisite  fruits."  Any  one  who  chose 
could  get  over  the  fence  and  help  himself  A  Philadelphian,  says 
Kalm,  has  so  much  liberty  and  abundance,  that  he  lives  in  his  house 
like  a  king. J;  A  large,  very  plain,  spread-out,  shady  village,  was 
the  Philadelphia  of  that  period.  Stores  were  then  undistinguished 
from  other  houses  by  projecting  windows.  A  store  was  simply  a 
dwelling-house,  with  a  room  full  of  goods  on  the  ground-floor,  and 
a  wooden  bee-hive,  anchor,  Bible,  ship,  basket,  or  crown  hung  over 
the  door.  A  narrow  flagging  was  laid  in  the  middle  of  the  side- 
walks of  the  principal  streets,  along  which  also  were  placed  rows 
of  nicely  painted  posts. 

*  "No  other  British  colony  admits  of  the  evidence  of  an  Indian  against  a  white  man ;  nor  are 
the  complaints  of  Indians  against  M'hite  men  duly  regarded  in  other  colonies;  whereby  these 
poor  people  endure  the  most  cruel  treatment,  from  the  very  worst  of  our  own  people,  without 
hope  of  redress !  And  all  the  Indian  wars,  in  our  colonies,  were  occasioned  by  such  means." — 
Importance  of  the  British  Plantations  in  America  to  these  Kingdoms.    London,  1731. 

t  Proud's  History  of  Pennsylvania,  ii,,  273. 

I  Travels  into  Xorth  America,  by  Professor  Peter  Kalm,  1748  to  1751. 


206  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l732. 

Philadelphia,  without  any  great  staple,  like  tobacco,  rice,  or  cod 
fish,  and  without  extensive  manufactures,  enjoyed,  from  an  early 
period,  a  profitable,  though  complicated  and  circuitous  commerce. 
The  province  could  not  otherwise  have  outstripped  Massachusetts, 
Virginia,  and  the  Carolinas ;  for  it  imported  from  Great  Britain 
about  ten  times  more  than  it  exported  to  Great  Britain.  When 
Pennsylvania  bought  in  England  half  a  million  pounds'  worth  of 
manufactures  every  year,  it  sent  to  England  less  than  fifty  thousand 
pounds'  worth  of  its  own  products.  Such  a  commerce  had  been  im- 
possible, but  for  the  great  trade  which  the  province  enjoyed  wdth  the 
West  Indies,  Portugal,  and  Spain,  by  which  money  or  bills  were 
obtained  to  pay  for  the  articles  purchased  in  England.  A  writer 
of  1731  states  that  Pennsylvania  then  exported  "  wheat,  flour,  bisket, 
barrelled  beef  and  pork,  bacon,  hams,  butter,  cheese,  cyder,  apples, 
soap,  myrtle,  wax  candles,  starch,  hair  powder,  tanned  leather,  bees- 
wax, tallow  candles,  strong  beer,  linseed  oil,  strong  waters,  deer 
skins  and  other  peltry,  hemp  (which  they  have  encouraged  by  an 
additional  bounty  of  three  half-pence  per  pound  weight  over  and 
above  what  is  allowed  by  act  of  parliament),  some  little  tobacco, 
lumber  [^.  e.,  sawed  boards,  and  timber  for  building  of  houses, 
cypress  wood,  shingles,  cask  staves  and  headings,  masts,  and  other 
ship  timber],  also  drugs,  of  various  sorts  (as  sassafras,  calamus  aro- 
maticus,  and  snake-root)." 

Our  author  adds,  that  the  Pennsylvanians  "  build  about  two  thou- 
sand tons  of  shipping  a  year  for  sale,  over  and  above  what  they  em- 
ploy in  their  own  trade ;  which  may  be  about  six  thousand  tons 
more." 

Besides  all  this,  they  "  send  great  quantities  of  corn  to  Portugal 
and  Spain,  frequently  selling  their  ships  as  well  as  cargo ;  and  the 
produce  of  both  is  sent  thence  to  England ;  where  it  is  always  laid 
out  in  goods,  and  sent  home  to  Pennsylvania.  They  receive  no  less 
than  from  4,000  to  6,000  pistoles  from  the  Dutch  Isle  of  Curayoa 
alone  for  provisions  and  liquors.  And  they  trade  to  Surinam  in  the 
like  manner,  and  to  the  French  part  of  Hispaniola,  as  also  to  the 
other  French  sugar  islands  ;  from  whence  they  bring  back  Molasses 
and  also  some  money.  From  Jamaica  they  sometimes  return  with 
all  money  and  no  goods  ;  because  their  rum  and  Molasses  are  so 
dear  there.  And  all  the  money  they  can  get,  from  all  parts  . 
as  also  sugar,  rice,  tar,  and  pitch,  is  brought  to  England  to  pay  for 


AGED    26.]  OLD   PHILADELPHIA.  201 

the  manufactures  they  carry  home  from  us  ;  which  has  not  for  many 
years  past  been  less  than  £150,000  per  annum.  They  trade  to  our 
provinces  of  New  England,  Virginia,  Maryland  and  Carolina,  and  to 
all  the  islands  in  the  West  Indies  (excepting  the  Spanish  ones),  as 
also  the  Canaries,  Madeira  and  the  Azores ;  likewise  to  Newfound- 
land for  fish  :  which  they  carry  to  Spain,  Portugal,  and  up  the  Medi- 
terranean ;  and  remit  the  money  to  England."* 

Franklin  himself  gives  a  similar  account  of  this  circuitous  com- 
nieixje  :  "  Britain,  acting  on  the  selfish  and  perhaps  mistaken  prin- 
ciple of  receiving  nothing  from'  abroad  that  could  be  produced  at 
liome,  would  take  no  articles  of  our  produce  that  interfered  with 
any  of  her  own  ;  and  what  did  not  interfere,  she  loaded  with  heavy 
duties.  We  had  no  mines  of  gold  or  silver.  We  "were  therefore 
obliged  to  run  the  world  over,  in  search  of  something  that  would  be 
received  in  England.  We  sent  our  provisions  and  lumber  to  the 
West  Indies,  where  exchange  was  made  for  sugars,  cotton,  &c.,  to 
remit.  We  brought  molasses  from  thence,  distilled  it  into  rum, 
with  which  we  traded  in  Africa,  and  remitted  the  gold  dust  to 
England.  We  employed  ourselves  in  the  fisheries,  and  sent  the  fish 
we  caught,  together  with  quantities  of  wheat  flour  and  rice  to 
Spain  and  Portugal,  from  whence  the  amount  was  remitted  to  Eng- 
land in  cash  or  bills  of  exchange.  Great  quantities  of  our  rice,  too, 
went  to  Holland,  Hamburgh,  &c.,  and  the  value  of  that  was  also 
sent  to  Britain.  Add  to  this,  that  contenting  ourselves  with  paper, 
all  the  hard  money  we  could  possibly  pick  up  among  the  foreign 
West  India  Islands,  was  continually  sent  off  to  Britain,  not  a  ship 
going  thither  from  America  without  some  chests  of  those  precious 
metals."f 

Chancellor  Livingston  mentions  that  Philadelphia,  before  the 
Kevolution,  exported  to  the  West  Indies  alone  three  hundred  thou- 
sand pounds  of  produce  annually,  and  ISTew  York  almost  as  much.J 

We  have  in  these  valuable  passages§  an  explanation  of  the  few 
great  fortunes  gained  in  Philadelphia  before  the  Revolution.  We  see 
also  that  for  a  pushing  tradesman  like  Franklin,  Philadelphia  afforded 

*  "  Importance  of  the  British  Plantations  in  America  to  these  Kingdoms."  London,  1781. 
.  Quoted  in  Proud's  History  of  Pennsylvania,  ii.,  202. 

t  Sparks,  ii.,  499. 

X  "  Diplomatic  Correspondence  of  the  American  Kevolution,"  viii.,  120. 

§  The  great  value  of  this  commerce  to  Great  Britain,  and,  particularly,  to  Scotland,  has  been 
ehown  by  Mr,  Buckle,  in  the  second  volume  of  his  "  History  of  Ci%ilization  in  England." 


208  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1732. 

a  sphere  not  unworthy  of  his  enterprise.  The  chain  of  causes  was 
the  following :  Toleration'  attracted  emigrants ;  peace  with  the 
Indians  enabled  them  to  produce  a  superabundance  of  commodities  ; 
this  triangular  commerce  converted  that  superabundance  into  wealth. 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  thus  enabled  to  win,  at  an  early  age,  the 
prize  of  leisure,  and  thus  to  lead  the  civilization  of  the  town,  to  be- 
come its  servant,  instructor,  and  champion. 

In  Boston  he  would  scarcely  have  found  room  enough.  It  was 
fortunate  that  he  was  early  transplanted  from  a  place  where  he 
could  have  grown  only  to  be  a  superb  "  stick  of  timber,"  to  a  scene 
that  admitted  of  his  expanding  into  a  great  umbrageous  tree.  It  is 
as  a  nursery  that  New  England  is  so  admirable.  A  great  Yankee  is 
apt  to  be  dwarfed  unless  he  is  transplanted  young  to  a  place  where 
there  are  fewer  of  his  kind,  and  where  the  influences  that  make  men 
afraid  to  think  are  less  powerful. 

The  wealth  gained  by  the  roundabout  commerce  of  Pennsylvania 
benefited  all  the  people,  but  enriched  few  of  them.  Most  of  the 
colonists  had  a  little  more  than  enough,  but  their  afiairs  were  gene- 
rally on  a  small  scale.  If  a  mechanic  kept  an  apprentice  and  one 
journeyman,  if  a  merchant  employed  more  than  one  clerk,  if  a 
storekeeper  required  the  attendance  of  any  one  besides  his  own 
family,  he  was  doing  an  unusually  large  business.  So  few  were  the 
fortunes  of  Philadelphia,  that,  as  late  as  1790,  "Society"  consisted, 
as  Mrs.  John  Adams  records,  of  a  single  set,  and  that  set  was  so 
limited  that  the  parties  usually  consisted  of  the  same  persons.  The 
Governor,  two  or  three  other  official  persons,  a  great  lawyer  or  two, 
a  doctor  or  two,  half  a  dozen  families  retired  from  business,  a 
dozen  merchants,  and  a  few  other  persons,  constituted  the  entire 
circle  of  those  who  had  leisure  enough  for  the  elegant  enjoyment  of 
life.  In  all  the  colonial  towns  life  was  still  slow,  frugal,  and  limited. 
It  was  life  without  the  steam-engine,  without  banks,  without  cotton, 
without  the  daily  newspaper,  without  carpets,  and  without  the  fuss 
and  flurry  that  these,  for  the  moment,  have  caused  in  the  world.  I 
can  hear  of  but  one  steam-engine  in  all  the  colonies  before  the  Revo- 
lution. John  Fitch,  when  he  conceived  the  idea  of  propelling  vessels 
by  steam  in  1785,  had  never  heard  that  there  was  such  a  thing  as  a 
steam-engine.  He  expected  to  make  the  first  steam-engine  himself 
In  1750,  Franklin  visited  the  Jersey  Copper  Mine  near  the  falls  of 
the  Passaic,  and  wrote  of  it :     "  The  water  is  grown  too  hard  for 


AGED    26.]  OLD  THILADELPHIA.  209 

them,  and  they  wait  for  a  fire-engine  from  England  to  drain  their 
pits  ;"  which  fire-engine,  he  adds,  "  is  to  cost  a  thousand  pounds."  A 
steam-pumping  engine  was  probably  the  article  waited  for. 

It  was  the  fewness  of  the  aristocratic  families,  and  the  moderate- 
ness of  their  fortunes,  that  rendered  it  so  easy  for  a  man  like  Frank- 
lin, who  wore  leather  breeches  in  his  youth,  and  a  leather  apron 
after  he  was  thirty,  to  get  welcome  admittance  to  their  circle.  To 
these  causes  must  be  added  another.  By  the  time  Benjamin 
Franklin  was  ready  to  lay  aside  his  leathern  apron,  several  of  the 
wealthier  Philadelphians  had  acquired  an  amount  of  knowledge  and 
a  love  of  literature  that  are  incompatible  with  snobbery. 

If  a  Philadelphian,  in  1728,  had  been  asked  to  name  the  business 
by  which,  in  Philadelphia,  a  stranger  could  make  a  fortune  in 
twenty  years,  the  business  of  a  printer  would  have  been  among  the 
very  last  to  occur  to  him.  There  was  no  good  book-store  south  of 
Boston,  it  is  true  :  but,  also,  there  was  no  general  regard  for  books 
south  of  Boston.  Except  Mr.  James  Logan,  who  had  a  superb 
library,  and,  perhaps,  three  or  four  persons  besides,  there  was  no 
one  in  Philadelphia  who  had  the  true  passion  for  books,  until  our 
young  printer  infused  it  into  them.  Franklin,  like  the  poets  that 
Wordsworth  speaks  of,  had  to  create  the  taste  by  gratifying  which 
he  was  to  thrive.  Almanacs,  hymn-books,  low-priced  books  of  re- 
ligious controversy,  and  very  rudimental  school-books,  were  the 
staple  commodities  of  the  Philadelphia  book-store  in  the  olden  time. 
It  was  not  safe  to  publish  any  book  higher  priced  than  eighteen 
pence,  except  by  subscription.  Of  the  books  published  in  the  colo- 
nies before  the  Revolution,  nine-tenths,  at  least,  appear  to  have  been 
sold  at  less  than  eighteen  pence.  The  whole  business  of  printing 
was  trivial,  and  could  be  made  profitable  only  by  prosecuting  suc- 
cessfully a  great  number  of  petty  projects. 

Philadelphia  being  a  less  intellectual  place  than  Boston,  its  ortho- 
doxy was  milder.  The  Quakers  have  no  clergymen ;  the  Germans 
are  naturally  good-humored  ;  the  Episcopal  Church  was  more  than 
tolerated  ;  the  means  of  living  were  abundant ;  the  aspects  of 
nature  were  seldom  terrible  ;  and,  consequently,  the  people  were  lesa 
fearful  and  better  tempered.  Even  their  violence  was  noisy,  boyish, 
and  shallow.  Professor  Kalm  relates,  that  in  1756,  there  was  ii 
contest  in  the  Old  German  Reformed  Church  of  Philadelphia,  whicli 
was  certainly  violent  enough,  but  it  was  merely  a  struggle  between 


210  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l732. 

two  preachers  for  the  possession  of  the  pulpit.  The  Church  sent  to 
Gennany  for  a  clergyman,  and  the  "Rev.  Mr.  Slaughter"  came. 
^N'ext  year  arrived  another  from  Holland,  who  "  by  his  artful  beha- 
vior so  insinuated  himself  into  the  favor  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Slaughter's 
congregation,  that  the  latter  lost  almost  half  his  audience.  The 
two  clergymen  then  disputed  for  several  Sundays  about  the  pulpit ; 
nay,  people  relate  that  the  new-comer  mounted  the  pulpit  on  a  Satur- 
day, and  stayed  in  it  all  night.  The  other  being  thus  excluded, 
the  two  parties  in  the  audience  made  themselves  the  subject  both 
of  the  laughter  and  the  scorn  of  the  whole  town,  by  beating  each 
other,  and  committing  other  excesses."* 

The  following  is  an  advertisement  from  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette, 
April  12,  1745  :  "  Whereas  the  Nossels  of  most  of  the  Pumps  in 
Market  Street  and  several  other  streets  in  this  City,  were  taken  out 
and  carried  away,  on  Saturday,  the  24th  of  November  last,  and  at 
several  times  before  and  since,  by  some  evil-minded,  dissolute  Per- 
sons ;  which  might  have  been  of  most  pernicious  consequence,  if  Fire 
had  happened  to  break  out  before  they  could  have  been  renewed ; 
the  Union  Fire  Company  of  Philadelphia,  hereby  offer  a  Reward  of 
Five  Pounds  to  him  or  her  who  shall  discover  (so  that  they  may  be 
convicted  at  the  Mayor's  Court)  any  of  the  Persons  concerned  in  re- 
moving the  said  Nossels,  or  doing  any  other  Damage  to  Pumps  in 
the  Streets,  whereby  they  may  be  rendered  incapable  of  discharging 
water.     By  Order  of  the  Company.  John  Bard,  Clerh?^ 

Tills  is  very  different  from  the  deep,  soul-rending  controversies, 
and  soul-crushing  terrors,  of  the  religion  of  the  Mathers.  Whitefield, 
a  man  endowed  with  a  singular  talent  for  exciting  terror,  threw  a 
horrid  gloom  over  Philadelphia,  for  a  time,  putting  a  stop  to  the 
dancing-schools,  the  assemblies,  and  every  pleasant  thing  ;  but  the 
reign  of  terror  was  short,  and  Philadelphia  soon  resumed  its  habits 
of  innocent  enjoyment.  Franklin,  who  could  scarcely  have  lived  a 
true  life  in  Boston  without  coming  into  conflict  with  the  Brethren, 
and  being  injured  in  the  conflict,  and  perhaps  spoiled  for  any  good 
purpose,  had  no  trouble  of  the  kind  in  mild  Philadelphia,  which  hon- 
ored itself  by  tolerating  all  sects,  as  well  as  honest  men  of  no  sect. 
The  very  variety  of  sects  in  Philadelphia  was  an  excuse  for  not  be- 
longing to  any,  and  gave  to  each  a  kind  of  property  in  a  good  man 

♦  Kalm,  i.,41. 


AGED    26.]  OLD   PHILADELPHIA.  211 

who  respected  all  and  could  be  claimed  by  none.  As  in  New  York 
completely,  so  in  Philadelphia  sufficiently,  a  man  was  permitted  to 
strive  after  virtue  in  his  own  way ;  a  privilege  that,  to  this  day, 
New  England  has  not  quite  conceded. 

In  Philadelphia,  about  1740,  the  Quakers  were  a  third  of  the  pop- 
ulation ;  in  Pennsylvania,  one-half.  This  denomination  gave  great 
promise  in  the  earlier  years  of  its  history.  It  was  far  more  tolerant 
than  the  age  ;  it  discovered  that  a  paid  priesthood  is  not  indispen- 
sable ;  it  perceived  the  utter  stupidity  of  such  wars  as  were  then 
waged  in  Europe ;  it  discerned  the  meanness,  the  turpitude,  the 
coarse  and  bungling  impolicy  of  slavery.  From  1712,  we  find  traces 
in  the  old  records  of  their  abhorrence  of  that  thing  accursed.  How 
strange  that  a  people  who  began  with  such  magnificent  conceptions, 
who  began  by  striding  on  in  advance  of  the  time,  should  have  made 
no  further  advances  !  But  it  concerns  us  only  to  know  that  to  them^  j 
Philadelphia  owed  much  of  its  early  thrift,  its  sedateness  and  uni-  ^ 
formity,  its  toleration  of  opinions  and  observances,  its  cleanliness  and 
decorum.  To  them  chiefly  is  owing  the  fact,  that  modern  Philadel- 
phia is  the  most  comfortable  and  least  interesting  large  city  in  the 
world.     Philadelphia  is  Quakerism  mitigated  by  Franklin.   / 

A  town  of*  a  hundred  and  twenty  years  ago,  who  can"  conceive 
it  ?  We  have  outgrown  so  many  things,  and  altered  so  many,  that 
the  student  stops  often  in  his  inquiries  to  ask,  whether  it  can  be  only 
of  the  last  century  that  he  is  reading,  and  not  of  twenty  centuries 
ago.  It  was  a  rage  in  old  Philadelphia,  not  merely  to  dig  for  pirate's 
gold,  but  to  find  the  buried  treasure  by  means  of  an  enchanted 
wand.  What  stable  safe  without  a  horse-shoe  nailed  over  the 
door  ?  There  were  charms  of  the  most  idiotic  nature  against 
witchcraft,  and  against  diseases.  Scarcely  a  criminal  could  be 
hanged  without  some  mother  bringing  an  infant  to  have  its  sore 
or  its  wen  stroked  by  the  hand  of  the  dead  man  before  he  was  cut 
down.  Some  degree  of  belief  in  dreams,  trances,  ghosts,  prodigies, 
and  special  providences  was  almost  universal.  In  the  market-place 
of  Pliiladelphia,  near  Franklin's  shop,  stood  the  whipping-post,  the 
pillory,  and  the  stocks,  all  in  frequent  use.  The  salary  of  the  "  pub- 
lic whipper"  was  ten  pounds  a  year.  It  was  common  for  women  to 
be  publicly  whipped  in  Philadelphia,  as  late  as  1760;  during  the 
business  career  of  Franklin,  it  occurred,  perhaps,  as  often  as  twice 
a  month.     If  a  husband  murdered  his  wife,  he  was  hanged ;  if  a 


212  LIFE   AXD   TIMES    OF    BEXJAMIX   FRANKLIN.  [l732. 

■woman  killed  her  husband,  she  was  burned  ;  if  she  had  an  accom- 
plice he  was  hanged,  but  she  was  burned.  Slaves  who  killed  their 
masters  were  burned.  The  woman  seduced  was  frequently  whip- 
ped, down  to  the  time  of  the  Revolution ;  the  man  seducer  never 
was,  I  believe,  after  the  year  1700.  Slaves  were  ruled  then  as  now, 
partly  by  the  lash,  and  chiefly  by  the  terror  of  being  sold  South. 
The  white  servants  who  had  sold  their  service  for  a  term  of  years  to 
pay  for  their  passage  from  Europe,*  were  so  much  in  the  habit  of 
running  away,  that  the  printers  derived  an  important  part  of  their 
revenue  from  advertising  them.  Franklin  once  suggested  a  Bought- 
Servant's  Insurance  Company,  to  mitigate  this  evil.  Probably,  it  was 
the  extreme  difficulty  of  inducing  the  servants  of  this  description  to 
serve  out  their  time,  that  led  to  the  discontinuance  of  the  system. 
Before  1750,  nearly  the  whole  internal  commerce  of  Pennsylvania 
was  performed  by  means  of  pack-horses.  In  1775,  there  were  only 
a  score  or  two  of  pleasure  vehicles  in  all  the  province,  and  every 
one  of  them  was  recognized  as  an  acquaintance  as  soon  as  it  ap- 
peared in  the  streets. 

It  was  the  age  of  wigs  and  comedy  costume.  People  dressed  as 
the  actors  of  our  theatres  try  to  dress  when  they  play  an  old  Eng- 
lish comedy.  Tight  knee-breeches,  fine  stockings,  low  shoes,  and 
silver  buckles;  long,  large,  stifi",  and  highly  decorated  coats,  three- 
cornered  hats,  ruffled  shirts  and  wristbands,  and  wigs  dangling  with 
cmis  were  worn  by  persons  of  respectable  rank.  The  earliest  por- 
trait we  have  of  Franklin  exhibits  him  attired  in  the  extr(3rae  of 
the  fashion  of  that  day,  except  that  he  wears  no  sword  at  his  side. 
It  was  taken  in  London  in  1726,  when  he  was  working  there  as  a 
journeyman  printer  ;  and,  on  his  return  to  America,  he  gave  it  to  his 
brother  John,  of  Rhode  Island,  the  companion  of  his  candle-making 
days.  The  fair,  full,  smiling  face  of  Franklin  is  surrounded  in  this 
picture  by  a  vast  and  stiif  horse-hair  wig,  and  his  well-developed 
figure  shows  imposingly  in  a  voluminous  and  decorated  coat,  that 
reaches  nearly  to  his  heels  ;  under  his  left  arm  he  carries  his  cocked 
hat.     His  manly  bosom  heaves  under  snowy  ruffles,  and  his  exten- 

*  Such  advertisements  as  the  following  were  very  common,  in  the  Philadelphia  newspapers, 
from  1720  to  1750 : 

"LATELY  IMPORTED, 

"A  Parcel  of  likely  Men  and  Women  Servants,  and  are  to  be  sold  by  Samuel  Ferguson,  at  the 
Widow  Fox's,  in  Walnut  Street,  Philadelphia,  on  reasonable  Terms,  either  for  ready  Money, 
Country  Produce,  or  Credit."'  —Permsylvania  Gazette^  December,  1728. 


AGED    26.]  OLD    PHILADELPHIA.  213 

sive  wristbands  are  exposed  to  view  by  the  shortness  of  his  coat- 
sleeves. 

With  regard  to  w^igs,  everybody  wore  them,  except  convicts  and 
slaves ;  boys  wore  them,  servants  wore  them,  Quakers  wore  them, 
paupers  wore  them.  One  of  the  tricks  of  the  time  was  to  bring 
over  from  England  a  ship-load  of  convicts,  and  pass  them  off  upon 
the  innocent  Pennsylvanians  for  "  respectable  servants,"  by  the 
simple  expedient  of  putting  upon  each  a  cheap  wig.  The  making 
of  wigs  was  an  important  branch  of  the  industry  of  Great  Britain. 
Poor  Richard  says  :  "  Three  things  are  men  most  likely  to  be  cheat- 
ed in,  a  horse,  a  wig,  and  a  wife."  They  were  made  in  great  va- 
riety, and  called  by  many  names,  the  signification  of  which  has  been 
forgotten.  We  read  of  tyes,  bobs,  majors,  spencers,  fox-tails, 
twists,  t6tes,  scratches,  full-bottomed,  dress-bobs,  cues,  cut  wigs, 
and  perukes.  The  reign  of  wigs  was  unquestioned,  until  George 
III.,  about  1765,  appalled  the  great  wig  interest  by  wearing  his 
own  hair.  The  fashion  spread,  only  to  be  succeeded  by  an  attempt 
to  make  the  natural  hair  resemble  a  wig  as  closely  as  possible. 
The  peruke-makers,  in  their  alarm,  approached  the  throne,  humbly 
beseeching  his  majesty,  in  consideration  of  their  distressed  condi- 
tion, occasioned  by  so  many  people  wearing  their  own  hair,  and 
employing  foreigners  to  cut  and  dress  it,  or  when  they  employ  na- 
tives obliging  them  to  work  on  the  Lord's  day,  to  the  neglect  of 
their  duty  to  God,  that  he  would  be  pleased  to  grant  them  relief, 
submitting  to  his  majesty's  goodness  and  wisdom,  whether  his  own 
example  was  not  the  only  means  of  relieving  them  from  their  dis- 
tress, so  far  as  it  was  occasioned  by  people  wearing  their  own 
hair.* 

It  was  of  no  avail.  Wigs  were  doomed.  The  king  gave  an  evasive 
reply,  and  resumed  not  his  Avig.  Some  of  the  wig-makers,  who  wore 
their  own  hair  in  the  very  presence  of  the  king,  were  seized  by  the 
mob  as  they  left  the  palace,  and  shorn  of  their  inconsistent  locks. 
Wigs  went  out — hair-dressing  came  in,  with  all  its  well-known 
tortures. 

Some  American  peculiarities,  which  we  are  accustomed  to  regard 
as  of  recent  origin,  began  to  be  observed  at  a  very  early  day.  Pro- 
fessor Kalm  noticed,  in  1748,  both  the  precocity  and  premature  old 

-  *  "Annual  Register  for  1765,"  p.  64. 


214  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OE   BENJAMIN   EKANKLIN.  [1732. 

age  of  Americans.  It  was  not  nncomraon,  he  said,  to  see  "little 
children  giving  sprightly  and  ready  answers  to  questions  that  are 
proposed  to  them,  so  that  they  seem  to  have  as  much  understand- 
ing as  old  men,  but  they  do  not  attain  to  such  an  age  as  the  Euro- 
peans." But  what  puzzled  him  most  was  the  early  decay  of  teeth 
in  the  colonies.  America  now,  as  all  the  world  knows,  is  the  para- 
dise of  dentists  ;  but  few  are  aware  how  early  America  caught  her 
chronic  toothache.  "  Girls,  not  above  twenty  years  old,  have  fre- 
quently lost  half  their  teeth,"  wrote  the  Swedish  observer  in  1748. 
He  enters  into  an  investigation  of  the  cause  of  this  effect  defective. 
Could  it  be  the  climate  ?  No ;  for  the  Indians  have  perfect  teeth. 
Was  it  the  general  practice,  peculiar  then  to  America,  of  drinking 
tea  every  day  ?  Probably  not ;  for  the  evil  began  before  tea  was 
introduced,  aifected  some  who  drank  no  tea,  and  spared  others  who 
drank  tea.  Could  it  be  fruits  and  sweetmeats,  of  which  the  colonists 
were  as  fond  as  their  great-grandchildren  are  ?  No ;  for  the  same 
reasons.  He  reached,  or  nearly  reached,  the  correct  explanation, 
which  is,  the  general  use  of  food  that  is  both  soft  and  warm.  In 
other  words,  American  teeth  decay,  because  they  are  not  used. 
Poor  Richard  says : 

"  Maids  of  America,  who  gave  you  bad  teeth  ? 

"  Answer — Hot  soupings  and  frozen  apples." 

In  the  hurry  of  settling  a  new  country,  too,  the  art  of  cookery  is 
lost,  and  the  frying-pan  bears  sway  for  three  generations,  causing 
at  length  universal  indigestion,  and  raising  dentistry  to  the  rank  of 
one  of  the  fine  arts. 

Nevertheless,  the  early  inhabitants  of  Pennsylvania  enjoyed  ex- 
cellent health ;  and  those  of  them  who  escaped  the  domination  of 
terrific  ideas  led  cheerful  and  happy  lives.  What  is  now  under- 
stood by  public  amusements,  in  which  the  amused  are  passive  and 
the  amusers  are  paid,  w^ere  little  known  and  less  valued.*  But 
there  was  in  Philadelphia,  before  1740,  a  dancing  school,  a  public 
ball-room,  a  pack  of  hounds,  a  race-ground,  and  numberless  social 
clubs.  The  two  weekly  market-days  were  themselves  a  kind  of 
holiday,  and  the  semi-annual  fair  an  hilarious  festival.     There  was 

*  From  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette,  October  25,  1744:  "To  be  seen,  at  the  Indian  King,  in 
Market  Street,  Price  Is.  for  men  and  women,  and  &d.  for  children. 

"  A  Beautiful  Creature,  but  surprisingly  fierce,  called  a  Leopard ;  his  Extraction  half  a  Lion  and 
half  a  Pardeal;  his  native  Place  of  Abode  is  in  Africa,  and  Arabia.  As  he  will  not  stay  long  in 
this  place,  those  who  have  a  Mind  to  see  him  are  desired  to  be  speedy." 


AGED    26.]  OLD   PHILADELPHIA.  215 

a  good  deal  of  unpretending  but  very  pleasant  festivity.  The  young 
ladies  sang  with  less  science  but  more  heartiness  and  expression 
than  they  now  do,  and  every  man  had  at  least  his  single  song. 
*'  Ballads  were  in  constant  requisition,"  observes  the  annalist,  Wat- 
son ;  "  I  knew  a  tradesman  of  my  age  who  told  me  it  was  his  pride 
to  say  he  could  sing  a  song  for  every  day  in  the  year,  and  all  com- 
mitted to  memory."*  From  the  same  diligent  collector  we  learn 
that  the  Negro  Minstrel  was  a  familiar  person  in  the  streets  of 
Philadelphia  a  hundred  years  ago.  "  The  boys  and  musical  people 
of  former  days  gave  great  countenance  to  negroes  from  the  Slave 
States,  who  used  to  visit  the  town  to  gather  pence  from  the  street 
passengers.  Their  fine  voices,  assisted  by  their  home-made  guitars 
made  from  their  home-grown  gourds,  then  held  the  rank  and  place 
of  the  present  street  organs."  This  passage  was  written  before  the 
late  revival  of  Negro  Minstrelsy.  What  a  debt  do  we  owe  to  the 
jollyj  amiable,  irrepressible,  indispensable  negro!  All  but  the  tra- 
clition  of  innocent  jollity  would  have  fled  the  land,  long  ago,  but 
for  him.     He  is  a  broad  grin  on  the  face  of  the  country. 

Americans  who  visited  Europe  from  1740  to  1775  generally  felt 
that  they  had  left  a  happy  land,  and  had  come  to  a  miserable  one. 
At  home,  there  was  little  luxury,  less  grandeur,  no  magnificence ; 
but  universal  plenty  and  comfort,  as  well  as  general  virtue  and 
considerably  difl'ased  knowledge.  Abroad,  a  few  of  the  people  had 
too  much  of  every  good  thing,  and  the  many  could  barely  prolong 
a  mean  and  sordid  existence.  What  Franklin  himself  says  on  this 
subject  is  very  striking:  "Had  I  never  been  in  the  American  colo- 
nies," he  wrote  in  1772,  after  a  tour  in  Great  Britain,  "but  were  to 
form  my  judgment  of  civil  society  by  what  I  have  lately  seen,  I 
should  never  advise  a  nation  of  savages  to  admit  of  civilization  ;  for, 
I  assure  you,  that  in  the  possession  and  enjoyment  of  the  various 
comforts  of  fife,  compared  Avith  these  people,  every  Indian  is  a  gen- 
tleman ;  and  the  efiect  of  this  kind  of  civil  society  seems  to  be,  the 
depressing  multitudes  below  the  savage  state,  that  a  few  may  be 
raised  above  it." 

But  let  no  one  suppose  that  the  colonies  presented  a  scene  of 
Arcadian  simpUcity  and  innocence.  Politics,  at  least,  were  tainted 
with  corruption,  as  they  are  necessarily  in  all  times  and  countries. 

*  Watson's  "  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  i.,  220. 


216  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKXIN.  [l732. 

As  early  as  1704,  William  Penn  remarked  the  unman ageableness 
of  Anaerican  politicians ;  men,  he  says,  who  were  modest  enough 
w^hile  they  were  lost  in  the  crowd  of  England,  but  in  America 
"  think  nothing  taller  than  themselves  but  the  trees."  John  Adams, 
in  one  of  his  early  essays,  cautions  his  readers  to  distrust  even  the 
liberality  of  politicians.  "  When  they  give  you  one  hundred 
pounds,  lawful  money,  towards  building  a  new  meeting-house,  and 
one  hundred,  old  tenor,  towards  repairing  one,  or  fifty  dollars 
towards  repairing  highways,  or  ten  dollars  to  the  treasury  towards 
the  support  of  the  poor  of  the  town,  or  when  they  are  very  liberal 
of  their  drams  of  brandy  and  lumps  of  sugar,  and  of  their  punch  on 
May  meeting  days :  these  largesses  aim  at  something  farther  than 
your  votes;  these  persons  aim  at  being  justices,  sheriffs,  judges, 
colonels ;  and  when  they  get  to  court"  (^.  e.  the  legislature),  "  they 
will  be  hired,  and  sell  their  votes  as  you  sold  yours  to  them."  And 
there  were  seekers  worse  than  these  in  the  colonies,  adds  Mr. 
Adams;  such  as  seek  to  be  governors,  lieutenant-governors,  cus- 
tom-house officers,  and  other  officers  of  the  crown.  "These  seekers 
are  actuated  by  a  more  ravenous  sort  of  ambition  and  avarice."* 

Many  passages  could  be  quoted  to  show  that  the  office-seeker, 
under  all  governments  and  in  all  times,  is  precisely  the  same  crea- 
ture. In  Mr.  Tudor's  life  of  the  illustrious  colonial  orator  and  pa- 
triot, James  Otis,  there  is  recorded  an  amusing  conversation  that 
throws  a  gleam  of  light  into  the  politics  of  the  colonies.  "  They 
talk  of  sending  me  to  the  general  court,"  said  Otis  to  a  friend. 
"  You  will  never  succeed  in  the  general  court,"  the  friend  remarked. 
"Not  succeed?  and  why  not,  pray?"  "Why,  Mr.  Otis,  you  have 
ten  times  the  learning,  and  much  greater  abilities  than  I  have,  but 
you  know  nothing  of  human  nature."  "Indeed  !  I  wish  you  would 
give  me  some  lessons."  "  Be  patient,  and  I  will  do  so  with  pleas- 
ure. In  the  first  place,  what  meeting  do  you  go  to  ?"  "  Dr.  Sew- 
all's."  "Yery  well;  you  must  stand  up  in  sermon-time;  you 
must  look  devout  and  deeply  attentive.  Do  you  have  family  pray- 
ers ?"  "No,"  "It  were  well  if  you  did.  What  does  your  family 
consist  of?"  "  Why,  only  four  or  five  commonly ;  but  at  this  time, 
I  have  in  addition  one  of  Dr.  SewalPs  saints,  who  is  a  nurse  of  my 
wife."     "  Ah !  that  is  the  very  thing.    You  must  talk  religion  with 

*  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii.,  165. 


AGED    26.]  OLD   PHILADELPHIA.  217 

her  in  a  very  serious  manner ;  you  must  have  family  prayers  at  least 
once  while  she  is  in  your  house.  That  woman  can  do  you  more 
harm  or  more  good  than  any  other  person ;  she  will  spread  your 
fame  throughout  the  congregation.  I  can  also  tell  you,  by  way  of 
example,  some  of  the  steps  I  take.  Two  or  three  weeks,  before  an 
election  comes  on,  I  send  to  the  cooper,  and  get  all  my  casks  put 
in  order ;  I  say  nothing  about  the  number  of  hoops.  I  send  to  the 
mason  and  have  some  jobs  done  to  the  hearths  or  the  chimneys.  I 
have  the  carpenter  to  make  some  repairs  on  the  roof  of  the  wood- 
house.  I  often  go  down  to  the  shipyards,  about  eleven  o'clock, 
when  they  break  off  to  take  their  drink,  and  enter  into  conversation 
with  them.     They  all  vote  for  me."* 

Mr.  Tudor  adds  an  anecdote  of  this  wise  person.  After  his  elec- 
tion to  the  legislature,  a  long  time  elapsed  before  he  again  visited 
the  shipyards.  When  he  did  so,  one  of  the  journeymen  remarked 
that  he  did  not  come,  to  see  them  so  often  since  the  House  had 
elected  him  a  member  of  the  Council.  "  Oh,  yes,"  he  replied ;  "  that 
is  true ;  but  my  time  is  so  much  taken  up.  And  then,  you  know, 
it  is  the  House  of  Representatives  that  chooses  the  Council." 

Let  us  not  omit  to  add,  that  James  Otis,  who  was  infinitely  inca- 
pable of  these  cunning  tricks,  was  unanimously  elected. 

In  Philadelphia,  if  we  may  believe  the  old  books,  elections  were 
as  hotly  contested,  and,  sometimes,  as  corruptly  managed,  as  in 
England.  The  most  aggravated  instance,  says  Proud,  occurred  in 
1742,  when  "a  large  number  of  sailors  from  the  shipping  in  the 
River  Delaware,  armed  with  clubs,  suddenly  appeared  in  a  tumul- 
tuous manner,  and  formed  a  riot  at  the  place  of  election ;  knocking 
down  a  great  number  of  the  people,  magistrates,  constables,  and 
others,  worthy  and  reputable  inhabitants,  who  opposed  them  ;  and 
by  violence  having  cleared  the  ground,  several  of  the  people  were 
carried  off  as  dead  !  This  was  repeatedly  done  upon  the  return  of 
the  electors ;  till,  at  last,  many  of  the  inhabitants  being  enraged, 
took  measures  to  force  them  into  their  ships,  and  near  fifty  of  them 
into  prison ;  but  they  were  soon  discharged,  for  it  afterwards 
appeared  that  they  had  been  privately  employed  in  this  work  by 
some  party  leaders."f 

These  glimpses  are  valuable  to  us  as  showing  that  purity  of  elec- 

*  Tudor's  "Life  of  Otie,"  p.  91. 

t  "Proud'6  History  of  Pennsylvania,"  vol.  ii.,  p.  229. 

10 


218  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [l733- 

tions  is  not  secured  by  limiting  the  suffrage  to  men  of  property. 
Probably,  the  purest  elections  ever  held  in  the  world  have  been 
those  of  the  United  States,  out  of  the  two  or  three  largest  seaport 
towns.  And  even  in  those  towns,  the  simple  and  just  expedient  of 
excluding  from  the  polls  men  unable  to  read,  would  keep  out  the 
few  thousand  bar-room  votes,  by  the  skillful  use  of  which  a  scoun- 
drel can,  now  and  then,  control  municipal  affairs.  But  it  is  time  to 
resume  our  narrative. 


CHAPTER  IV. 

FKANKLIN   AS   EDITOE. 


Fkanklin  was  an  active-business-man  in  Philadelphia  for  just 
twenty  years — from  1728  to  1748.  He  was  printer,  editor,  com- 
piler, publisher,  bookseller,  bookbinder,  and  stationer.  He  made 
lampblack  and  ink  ;  he  dealt  in  rags ;  he  sold  soap  and  live-geese 
feathers.  One  of  his  advertisements  of  1735,  offers  "very  good 
sack  at  6  shillings  a  gallon ;"  and  he  frequently  announces,  that  he 
has  coffee  for  sale  and  other  household  articles.  His  shop  was  the 
source  of  news,  and  the  favorite  haunt  of  the  inquisitive  and  pub- 
lic-spirited. If  there  was  a  scheme  on  foot  for  a  course  of  lectures, 
or  any  project  to  promote  the  public  good,  the  subscription-papers 
were  to  be  found  "  at  the  new  printing-office  near  the  market." 

For  the  moment,  we  pass  by  his  studies  and  his  exertions  for  tha 
good  of  the  town,  in  order  to  review  his  career  as  a  man  of  busi- 
ness. Having  shown  how  he  earned  his  leisure.  At  will  then  be  in 
order  to  tell  how  he  employed  it. 

The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  throve  apace.  It  was  incomparably 
the  best  newspaper  published  in  the  colonies.  At  first,  not  more 
than  one  number  in  five  contained  an  article  of  a  literary  character ; 
but  after  a  few  months  had  elapsed,  every  number  had  something 
of  the  kind — a  piece  from  the  "  Spectator,"  an  article  from  an  Eng- 
lish newspaper,  or  an  essay  by  Franklin,  which  had  first  been  read 
to  the  Junto.  Franklin's  own  contributions  have  been  collected, 
and  are  well  known  to  be  among  the  sprigbtliest  of  his  efforts. 


AGED   27.]  FRAJSXLIN  AS   EDITOE.  219 

His  selections  were  of  a  liberal  cast,  well  calculated  to  serve  as  a 
corrective  of  the  colonial  and  sectarian  spirit.  The  paper  contained 
scarcely  any  thing  of  a  controversial  nature,  and  nothing  ill-hu- 
inored.  In  all  the  colonies  there  was  no  better  preacher  of  good 
M'ill  and  brotherly  love  than  the  Pennsylvania  Gazette. 

Two  of  the  more  elaborate  of  Franklin's  jokes  in  the  Gazette., 
liave  escaped  the  vigilance  of  editors  hitherto.  The  Speech  of 
Polly  Baker  is  one  of  these  ;  which  is  not  only  humorous,  but  well 
rebukes  the  cruel  immorality  which  sent  a  poor  miserable  drab  to 
the  whipping-post,  and  invited  her  seducer  to  dinner.  This  speech 
was  a  current  joke  in  the  colonial  press  for  thirty  years,  and  con- 
tinued to  be  occasionally  reprinted  after  the  Revolution.  It  was 
inserted  in  the  Gazette^  Franklin  telk  us,  to  amuse  the  town  at  a 
time  when  there  was  little  news  stirring : 

"The  Speech  of  Miss  Polly  Baker  before  a  Court  of  Judicatory, 
in  New  England,  where  she  was  prosecuted  for  a  fifth  time,  for 
having  a  Bastard  Child  ;  which  influenced  the  Court  to  dispense 
with  her  punishment,  and  which  induced  one  of  her  Judges  to  marry 
her  the  next  Day — by  whom  she  had  fifteen  children. 

"  May  it  please  the  honourable  bench  to  indulge  me  in  a  fe\v^ 
words :  I  am  a  poor  unhappy  woman,  who  have  no  money  to  fee 
lawyers  to  plead  for  me,  being  hard  put  to  it  to  get  a  living.  I 
shall  not  trouble  your  honours  with  long  speeches ;  for  I  have  not 
the  presumption  to  expect,  that  you  may,  by  any  means,  be  pre- 
vailed on  to  deviate  in  your  sentence  from  the  law  in  my  favour. 
All  I  humbly  hope  is,  that  your  honours  would  charitably  move  the 
governor's  goodness  on  my  behalf,  that  my  fine  may  be  remitted. 
This  is  the  fifth  time,  gentlemen,  that  I  have  been  dragged  before 
your  court  on  the  same  account ;  twice  have  paid  heavy  fines,  and 
twice  have  been  brought  to  public  j^unishment,  for  want  of  money 
to  pay  those  fines.  This  may  have  been  agreeable  to  the  laws,  and 
I  don't  dispute  it ;  but  since  the  laws  are  sometimes  unreasonable 
in  themselves,  and  therefore  repealed,  and  others  bear  too  hard  on 
the  subject  in  particular  instances  ;  and  therefore  there  is  left  a 
power  somewhere  to  dispense  with  the  execution  of  them ;  I  take 
the  liberty  to  say,  that  I  think  this  law,  by  which  I  am  punished, 
both  unreasonable  in  itself,  and  particularly  severe  with  regard  to 
me,  who  have  always  lived  an  inofifensive  life,  in  the  neighbour- 
hood where  I  was  born,  and  defy  my  enemies  (if  I  have  any)  to  say 


220  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  EEANKLIN.  [1733. 

I  have  ever  wronged  any  man,  woman,  or  child.  Abstracted  from 
the  law,  I  cannot  conceive  (may  it  please  your  honours)  what  the 
nature  of  my  offence  is.  I  liave  brought  five  children  into  the 
Avorld,  at  the  risque  of  my  life ;  I  have  maintained  them  well  by 
my  own  industry,  without  burthening  the  township,  and  would 
have  done  it  better,  if  it  had  not  been  for  the  heavy  charges  and 
fines  I  have  paid.  Can  it  be  a  crime  (in  the  nature  of  things,  I 
mean)  to  add  to  the  King's  subjects,  in  a  new  country  that  really 
wants  people  ?  I  own  it,  I  should  think  it  rather  a  praiseworthy 
than  a  punishable  action.  I  have  debauched  no  other  woman's 
husband,  nor  enticed  any  youth ;  these  things  I  never  was  charged 
with ;  nor  has  any  one  the  least  cause  of  complaint  against  me,  un- 
less, perhaps,  the  ministers  6f  justice,  because  I  have  had  children 
without  being  married,  by  which  they  have  missed  a  wedding  fee. 
But  can  this  be  a  fault  of  mine  ?  I  appeal  to  your  honours.  You 
are  pleased  to  allow  I  don't  want  sense  ;  but  I  must  be  stupefied  to 
the  last  degree,  not  to  prefer  the  honourable  state  of  wedlock  to 
the  condition  I  have  lived  in.  I  always  was,  and  still  am  willing,  to 
enter  into  it ;  and  doubt  not  my  behaving  well  in  it,  having  all  the 
industry,  frugality,  fertility,  and  skill  in  economy,  appertaining  to  a 
good  wife's  character.  I  defy  any  one  to  say  I  ever  refused  an 
offer  of  that  sort;  on  the  contrary,  I  readily  consented  to  the  only 
proposal  of  marriage  that  ever  was  made  me,  which  was  when  I 
was  a  virgin,  but  too  easily  confiding  in  the  person's  sincerity  that 
made  it,  I  unhappily  lost  my  own  honour  by  trusting  to  his ;  for 
he  got  me  with  child,  and  then  forsook  me. 

"  That  very  person,  you  all  know,  he  is  now  become  a  magistrate  of 
this  country  ;  and  I  had  hopes  he  would  have  appeared  this  day  on  the 
bench,  and  have  endeavoured  to  moderate  the  Court  in  my  favour ; 
then  I  should  have  scorned  to  have  mentioned  it ;  but  I  must  now 
complain  of  it,  as  unjust  and  unequal,  that  my  betrayer  and  undoer, 
the  first  cause  of  all  my  faults  and  miscarriages  (if  they  must  be  deem- 
ed such),  should  be  advanced  to  honor  and  power  in  the  government 
that  punishes  my  misfortunes  with  stripes  and  infamy.  I  should  be 
told,  'tis  like,  that  were  there  no  act  of  assembly  in  the  case,  the  pre- 
cepts of  religion  are  violated  by  my  transgressions.  If  mine  is  a  reli- 
gious transgression,  leave  it  to  religious  punishments.  You  have 
already  excluded  me  from  the  comforts  of  your  church  communion. 
Is  not  that  sufiicient?    What  need  is  there  then,  of  your  additional 


AGED  27.]  FRANKLIN    AS  EDITOR.  221 

fines  and  whipping  ?  You  believe  I  have  oflended  heaven,  and  must 
suffer  eternal  fire ;  will  not  that  be  sufficient  ?  I  own  I  do  not  think  as 
you  do,  for,  if  I  thought  what  you  call  a  sin  was  really  such,  I  could  not 
presumptuously  commit  it.  But  how  can  it  be  believed  that  Heaven 
is  angry  at  my  having  children,  when  to  the  little  done  by  me  to- 
wards it,  God  has  been  pleased  to  add  his  divine  skill  and  admirable 
workmanship  in  the  formation  of  their  bodies,  and  crowned  the 
whole  by  furnishing  them  with  rational  and  immortal  souls  ?  For- 
give me,  gentlemen,  if  I  talk  a  little  extravagantly  on  these  matters  : 
I  am  no  divine,  but  if  you,  gentlemen,  must  be  making  laws,  do  not 
turn  natural  and  useful  actions  into  crimes  by  your  prohibitions. 
But  take  into  your  wise  consideration  the  great  and  growing  num- 
ber of  bachelors  in  the  country,  many  of  whom,  from  the  mean  fear 
of  the  expenses  of  a  family,  have  never  sincerely  and  honourably 
courted  a  woman  in  their  lives  ;  and  by  their  manner  of  living  leave 
unproduced  (which  is  little  better  than  murder)  hundreds  of  their 
posterity  to  the  thousandth  generation.  Is  not  this  a  greater  offence 
against  the  public  good  than  mine  ?  Compel  them  then,  by  law, 
either  to  marriage,  or  to  pay  double  the  fine  of  fornication  every 
year.  What  must  poor  young  women  do,  whom  customs  and  nature 
forbid  to  solicit  the  men,  and  who  cannot  force  themselves  upon 
husbands,  when  the  laws  take  no  care  to  provide  them  any  ;  and 
yet  severely  punish  them  if  they  do  their  duty  without  them ;  the 
duty  of  the  first  and  great  command  of  nature  and  of  nature's  God, 
increase  and  multiply;  a  duty,  from  the  steady  performance  of 
which  nothing  has  been  able  to  deter  me,  but  for  its  sake  I  have 
hazarded  the  loss  of  the  public  esteem,  and  have  frequently  endured 
public  disgrace  and  punishment ;  and  therefore  ought,  in  my  hum- 
ble opinion,  instead  of  a  whipping,  to  have  a  statue  erected  to  my 
memory." 

Another  of  his  jocular  efforts  was  an  expansion  of  the  catalogue 
of  slang  words  signifying  intoxicated^  which  had  appeared  in  the 
New  England  Courant.  By  this  time,  he  had  read  Rabelais  ;  as  we 
see  from  the  extensive  borrowing  from  that  author  in  Poor  Richard. 
Rabelais  gives  a  dozen  or  more  of  these  elaborate  lists  of  slang  words, 
frequently  arranging  them  in  alphabetical  order.  From  Rabelais, 
doubtless,  he  obtained  the  hint  of  the  following  curious  catalogue  : 


222 


LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN. 


[1733. 


THE  DRINKER'S  DICTIONARY. 


He  is  addled. 

He's  casting  up  his  accounts. 

afflicted. 

in  his  airs. 

B. 

He's  Biggy. 

Bewitched. 

Block  and  Block. 

Boozy. 

Bowz'd. 

Been  at  Barbadoes. 

Drunk  as  a  Wheelbarrow. 

Burdock' d. 

Busky. 

Buzzey. 
Has  stole  a  Manchet  out  of  the 

Brewer's  Basket. 
His  head  is  full  of  Bees. 
Has  been  in  the  Bibbing  Plot. 

drank  more  than  he  has  bled. 
He's  Bungey. 

As  drunk  as  a  Beggar. 
He  sees  the  Bears. 
He's  kiss'd  Black  Betty. 

had  a  thump  over  the  head 
with  Sampson's  Jawbone. 

Bridgey. 


C. 


He 


's  Cat. 
Cagrin'd. 
Capable. 
Cramp' d. 


He's  Cherubimical. 

Cherry  Merry. 

Wamble  Crop'd. 

Crack'd. 

Concern'd. 

Half  way  to  Concord. 
Has  taken  a  Chirriping-Glass. 

Got  Corns  in  his  head. 

A  Cup  too  much. 

Coguy. 

Copey. 
He's  heat  his  Copper. 

Crocus. 

Catch'd. 
He  cuts  his  Capers. 
He's  been  in  the  Cellar. 

in  his  Cups. 

Non  Compos- 

Cock'd. 

Curv'd. 

Cut. 

Chipper. 

Chickery. 

Loaded  his  Cart. 

Been    too    free  with    the 
Creature. 
Sir    Richard    has    taken  off  his 

Considering  Cap. 
He's  Chap-fallen. 

I>. 

He's  Disguiz'd. 
Got  a  Dish. 
Killed  his  Dog. 
Took  his  Drops. 


AGED    27.] 


FRANKLIN    AS    EDITOR. 


223 


It  is  a  Dark  Day  with  him. 
He's  a  Dead  Man. 
Has  Dipp'd  his  Bill. 
He's  DaggM. 

seen  the  Devil. 

He's  Prince  Eugene. 
Enter'd. 
Wet  both  Eyes. 
Cock  Ey'd. 
Got  the  Pole  Evil. 
Got  a  brass  Eye. 
Made  an  Example. 
Eat  a  Load   &   a  half  for 

breakfast. 
In  his  Element. 


He's  Fishey. 

Fox'd. 

Fuddled. 

Sore  Footed. 

Frozen. 

Well  in  for't. 

Owes  no  man  a  Farthing. 

Fears  no  Man. 

Crump  Footed. 

Been  to  France. 

Flush'd. 

Froze  his  Mouth. 

Fetter'd. 

Been  to  a  Funeral. 
His  Flag  is  out. 
He's  Fuzl'd. 

Spoke  with  his  friend. 

Been  at  an  Indian  Feast. 


He's  Glad. 


He's  Groatable. 
Gold-headed. 
Glaiz'd. 
Generous. 
Booz'd  the  Gage. 
As  Dizzy  as  a  Goose. 
Been  before  George, 
Got  the  Gout. 
Had  a  Kick  in  the  Guts. 
Been  with  Sir  John  Goa, 
Been  at  Geneva. 
Globular. 
Got  the  Glanders. 
H. 

He's  Half  and  Half. 

Hardy. 

Top  Heavy. 

Got  by  the  Head. 

Hiddey. 

Got  on  his  little  Hat. 

Hammerish. 

Loose  in  the  Hilts. 

Knows  not  the  way  Home. 

Got  the  Hornson. 

Haunted  with  Evil  Spirits. 
Has  taken  Hippocrates'  Grand 
Elixir. 

I. 

He's  Intoxicated. 

Jolly. 

Jagg'd. 

Jambl'd. 

Going  to  Jerusalem. 

Jocular. 

Been  to  Jerico. 

Juicy. 

K. 
He's  a  King. 


224 


LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN. 


[1Y33. 


Clips  the  King's  English. 

Seen  the  French  King. 

The  King  is  his  Cousin. 

Got  Kib'd  Heels. 

Knapt. 

Het  his  Kettle. 


He's  in  Liquor. 

Lordly. 

He  makes  Indentures  with 
his  Leggs. 

Well  to  Live. 

Light. 

Lappy. 

Limber. 

M. 
He  sees  two  Moons, 

Merry. 

Middling. 

Moon-eyed. 

Muddled. 

Seen  a  Flock  of  Moons. 

Maudlin. 

Mountous. 

Muddy. 

Rais'd  his  Monuments. 

Mellow. 

He's  Eat  the  Cocoa  Nut. 
Nimptopsical. 
Got  the  Night  Mare. 

O. 

He's  Oil'd 

Eat  Opium. 
Smelt  of  an  Onion. 
Oxycrocium. 


He's  Overset. 


F. 


He    drank   till  he   gave  up  his 
Half  Penny. 

Pidgeon  Ey'd. 

Pungey. 

Priddy. 

As  good  conditioned  as  a 
Puppy. 
Has   Scalt  his  Head  Pan. 

Been  among  the  Philistines. 

In  his  Prosperity. 
He's  been  among  the  Philippi- 
ans. 

contending  with  Pharaoh. 

Wasted  his  Paunch. 

Polite. 

Eat  a  Pudding  Bag. 

He's  Quarrelsome. 

R. 

He's  Rocky. 
Raddled. 
Rich. 
Religious. 
Lost  his  Rudder. 
Ragged. 
Rais'd. 
Been    too    free    with    Sir 

Richard. 
Like  a  Rat  in  Trouble. 

S. 
He's  Stitch'd. 
Seafaring. 
In  the  Sudds. 
Strong. 
Been  in  the  Sun, 


AGED  27.] 


FRANKLIN  AS  EDITOR. 


225 


He's  as  Drunk  as  David's  Sow. 

T. 

Swampt. 
His   Skin  is  full. 

He's  Top'd. 

Tongue-ty'd. 

He's  Steady. 

He's  Stiff. 

He's  burnt  his  Shoulder. 

Tann'd. 
Tipium  Grove. 
Double  Tongu'd. 

He's  got  his  Top  Gallant  Sails 
out. 
Seen  the  yellow  Star. 

Topsy-Turvey. 
Tipsey. 
He's  swallowed  a  Tavern  Token 

As  Stiff  as  a  Ringbolt. 
Half  Seas  over. 

He's  Thaw'd. 
He's  in  a  Trance. 

His  Shoe  pinches  him. 

He's  Trammel'd. 

Stagger  ish. 

It  is  Star-light  with  him. 

He  carries  too  much  Sail. 

Stew'd. 

Stubb'd. 

V. 

He  makes  Virginia  Fence. 
Valiant. 
Got  the  Indian  Vapours. 

Soak'd. 

W. 

Soft. 

The  Malt  is  above  the  Water. 

Been  too  free  with  Sir  John 

He's  Wise. 

Strawberry. 
He's  right  before  the  wind  with 

He's  Wet. 

He's  been  to  the  Salt  Water. 

all   his    Studding    Sails 

He's  Water  Soaken. 

out. 
Has  sold  his  Senses. 

He's  very  Weary. 

Out  of  the'Way. 

It  needs  but  a  slight  acquaintance  with  the  habits  of  the  time  to 
know  that  this  dictionary  must  have  been  keenly  relished  by  the 
Philadelphians,  with  all  their  sobriety  of  demeanor.  Franklin  was 
ingenious,  also,  in  writing  short  communications  for  his  paper,  cal- 
culated to  call  forth  amusing  answers,  and  to  make  the  public  eager 
to  see  the  next  number.  It  is  evident  that  he  frequently  wrote,  not 
only  the  provocative  communication,  but  also  most  of  the  replies 
supposed  to  have  been  called  forth  by  it — sometimes  all  of  them. 
Few  numbers  of  the  Gazette  appeared,  in  which  there  was  not  some 
little  innocent  mystery  or  joke,  designed  to  render  the  paper  a 
topic  of  table-talk. 

I  think  we  must  admit,  also,  that  it  was  Franklin  who  originated 
the  modern  system  of  business-advertising.  It  is  certain  that  he 
10* 


226  lilFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FBANKUN.  [l733. 

"was  the  first  man  who  used  this  mighty  engine  of  publicity,  as  we 
now  use  it.  The  advertisements  in  the  papers,  before  his  time, 
were  few  and  brief,  consisting  almost  exclusively  of  notices  of  run- 
away servants,  and  sales  of  houses,  lands,  and  cargoes.  Franklin 
advertised  his  wares  profusely,  skillfully,  and  constantly.  Some  of 
his  advertisements  give  the  titles  of  seventy  publications ;  others, 
the  entire  stock  in  trade  of  a  stationer  ;  and,  besides  these,  he  kept 
always  ready  advertisements  of  one  or  two  lines,  which  served  the 
double  purpose  of  filling  out  a  short  column  and  of  keeping  the 
public  in  mind  that  B.  Franklin  had  constantly  on  hand  a  very 
good  article  of  lamp  black,  or  that  he  paid  ready  money  for  old 
rags.*  He  also  invented  the  plan  of  distinguishing  advertisements 
by  means  of  little  pictures,  which  he  cut  with  his  own  hands.  His 
own  example  was  soon  followed  by  other  tradesmen,  and  the  adver- 
tising business  of  the  Gazette  increased  with  astonishing  rapidity, 
until  it  amounted  to  four  or  five  pages  a  week,  a  quantity  unprece- 
dented in  the  colonies,  and,  probably,  in  the  old  country. 

The  Pennsylvania  Gazette  flourished  exceedingly.  In  the  Phila- 
delphia City  Library,  a  complete  file  of  it  is  preserved  in  excellent 
condition,  wherein  can  be  discerned  the  whole  business  career  of 
Franklin,  and  the  gradual  growth  of  the  commerce  of  Philadelphia. 
It  is  by  far  the  most  valuable  and  interesting  collection  of  the  kind 
in  the  country. 

*  Frankltn  advertised  every  thing.    The  following  are  three  of  his  advertisements: 

"Taken  out  of  a  pew  in  the  Church,  some  months  since,  a  Common  Prayer  Book,  bound  in 
red,  gilt,  and  lettered  D.  F.  [Deborah  Franklin],  on  each  cover.  The  person  who  took  it  is  desired 
to  open  it,  and  read  the  Eighth  Commandment,  and  afterwards  return  it  into  the  same  pew 
again ;  upon  which  no  further  notice  will  be  taken." 

"  Lent  at  different  times  (and  forgot  to  whom),  the  following  Books,  viz. :  Whiston's  Astro- 
nomical Principles  of  Religion ;  Croxairs  Esop;  Watts's  Lyric  Poems,  sacred  to  Piety,  Virtue, 
and  Friendship;  SteeFs  Dramatick  Works;  Discourse  of  Free-Thinking:  The  Persons  that  bor- 
rowed them  are  desired  to  return  them  to  the  Printer  of  this  Paper. 

"  He  has  in  his  Hands  the  2d  vol.  of  Cowley's  Works,  in  Octavo,  of  which  he  does  not  know 
the  Owner." 

"Stolen  or  stray'd  on  the  5th  Instant  at  Night,  out  oi  Benjamin  Fra^iklin's  Pasture  near 
Philadelphia  City,  a  likely  young  Sorrel  Horse,  about  14  Hands  high,  with  Silver  Mane  and  Tail, 
four  white  feet,  a  blaze  in  his  Face,  no  Brand,  a  large  Belly,  and  is  in  good  case.  Paces  well,  but  Trots 
sometimes,  very  small  ears,  and  is  shod  all  round-  Also  a  small  bay  Horse,  without  shoes,  low  in 
Flesh,  long  dark  Tail  and  Mane.  Whoever  brings  them  to  the  subscriber,  shall  have  Forty  Shil- 
linga  Reward  for  the  first,  and  Ten  Shillings  for  the  other.  If  stolen,  and  the  Thief  detected, 
go  that  he  may  be  brought  to  Justice,  Five  Pounds,  Avith  reasonable  Charges,  paid  by 

"B.  Franklin." 


AGED    27.]      POOR   EICHAKD   AI^D    OTHEK   PUBLICATIONS.  227 

CHAPTER  Y. 

POOR   KICHARD,    AND    OTHEE    PUBLICATIONS. 

Every  printer  in  the  colonies  appears  to  have  published  an 
almanac.  In  December,  1732,  Franklin  gave  the  Pennsylvanians 
the  first  number  of  that  most  renowned  of  all  almanacs.  Poor 
Richard^  price  five  pence.  It  was  a  rare  success.  Three  editions 
were  sold  in  a  month.  The  average  sale  for  twenty-five  years  was 
ten  tliousand  copies  a  year.  And  now,  after  the  lapse  of  a  hundred 
and  thirty  years,  we  find  persons  willing  to  give  twenty  dollars  for 
a  single  number,  and  several  hundreds  of  dollars  for  a  complete  set. 
Nay,  the  reading  matter  of  several  of  the  numbers  has  been  repub- 
lished within  these  few  years,  and  that  republication  already  begins 
to  command  the  price  of  a  rarity.  Most  of  the  colonial  writers,  after 
1733,  quote  Poor  Richard^  all  of  whose  choice  utterances  were  re- 
printed over  and  over  again,  in  the  colonial  press,  from  Boston  to 
Charleston.  Mrs.  John  Adams  quotes  him  in  one  of  her  admirable 
letters  of  1777.  "  That  saying  of  Poor  Richard,"  she  says,  "often 
occurs  to  my  mind :  '  God  helps  them  who  help  themselves.' " 

Poor  Richard  was  the  comic  almanac  of  its  day.  Many  serious 
maxims  appear  in  it,  but  the  comic  element  is  the  prevailing  one. 
The  reason  why  Poor  Richard's  economical  maxims  (an  insignifi- 
cant portion  of  its  contents)  acquired  such  celebrity,  can  be  easily 
explained.  In  1757,  the  taxes  caused  by  the  French  war  pressing 
heavily  upon  the  colonists,  Franklin  wrote  a  long  article  for  the 
preface  of  his  almanac,  the  object  of  which  was  to  show  that  the 
taxes  could  easily  be  paid,  if  the  people  would  only  be  a  little  less 
extravagant.  Beginning  with  the  remark,  that  nothing  pleases  an 
author  more  than  to  hear  himself  quoted,  Poor  Richard  thus  pro- 
ceeds :  "  I  stopped  my  horse  lately  where  a  great  number  of  people 
were  collected  at  an  auction  of  merchants'  goods.  The  hour  of  the 
sale  not  being  come,  they  were  conversing  on  the  badness  of  the 
limes ;  and  one  of  the  company  called  to  a  plain,  clean  old  man,  with 
white  locks,  '  Pray,  Father  Abraham,  what  think  you  of  the  times  ? 
Will  not  these  heavy  taxes  quite  ruin  the  country  ?  How  shall  we 
ever  be  able   to  pay  them?     What  would  you  advise  us  to  do?' 


/ 


228  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAJIIN   FRANKLIN.  [1733. 

Father  Abraham  stood  up  and  replied,  '  If  you  would  have  my  ad- 
vice, I  will  give  it  you  in  short ;  for  A  word  to  the  wise  is  enough, 
as  Poor  Richard  says.'  They  joined  in  desiring  him  to  speak  his 
mind ;  and,  gathering  round  him,  he  proceeded  as  follows." 

The  old  man  then  goes  on  to  quote,  one  after  another,  with  con- 
necting remarks,  all  the  prudential  and  economical  maxims  that  Poor 
Richard  had  published  in  twenty-five  years.  The  "  clean  old  man" 
harangued  the  crowd  at  great  length,  and  displayed  much  ingenuity 
in  stringing  the  quaint  proverbs  smoothly  together.  "  The  people 
heard  it,"  says  Poor  Richard,  "  and  approved  the  doctrine ;  and  im- 
mediately practiced  the  contrary,  just  as  if  it  had  been  a  common 
sermon ;  for  the  auction  opened,  and  they  began  to  buy  extrava- 
gantly." 

This  amusing  preface  made  a  brilliant  hit.  Besides  being  imme- 
diately copied  into  all  the  colonial  newspapers,  it  was  reprinted  in 
England  on  a  large  sheet,  designed  to  be  hung  up  in  cottages.  It 
was  translated  into  Spanish,  mto  modern  Greek,  and  three  times 
into  French,  since  it  was  well  adapted  to  reconcile  the  unhappy 
people  of  Europe  to  the  withering  taxation  to  which  they  were  sub- 
jected in  the  last  century.  But  the  worst  eifect  of  the  piece  has 
been  to  perpetuate  the  opinion,  that  the  large  and  liberal  Franklin 
was  a  mere  devotee  of  penny-saving  prudence. 

I^oor  Richard,  I  repeat,  was  a  comic  almanac.  The  advertise- 
ments which  announced  its  publication  were  comic  ;  most  of  the 
prefaces  were  comic ;  the  accounts  of  the  eclipses  and  other  natural 
phenomena  were  generally  comic ;  the  greater  part  of  the  verses 
and  proverbs  were  comic ;  and  those  which  were  not  comic,  were 
uaint. 

Some  of  the  best  fun  Franklin  ever  wrote,  occurs  in  the  prefaces 
to  Poor  Richard.  Year  after  year,  they  play  upon  Titan  Leeds, 
in  whose  name,  a  rival  almanac,  once  published  by  Keimer,  an- 
nually appeared.  Mr.  Richard  Saunders  (Poor  Richard)  begins  his 
first  preface,  by  avowing  that  his  motive  in  publishing  an  almanac 
is  not  at  all  a  disinterested  one.  "  The  plain  truth  of  the  matter  is," 
said  Richard,  "  I  am  excessive  poor,  and  my  wife,  good  woman,  is, 
I  tell  her,  excessive  proud ;  she  cannot  bear,  she  says,  to  sit  spin- 
ning in  her  shift  of  tow,  while  I  do  nothing  but  gaze  at  the  stars ; 
and  has  threatned  more  than  once  to  burn  all  my  books  and  rat- 
tling-traps, (as  she  calls  my  instruments,)  if  I  do  not  make  some 


AGED  27.]      TOOK   RICHARD   AND    OTHER  PUBLICATIONS.  229 

profitable  use  of  them  for  the  good  of  my  family.  The  printer  has 
offer'd  me  some  considerable  share  of  the  profits,  and  I  have  thus 
began  to  comply  with  my  dame's  desire."  Long  ago,  he  continues, 
he  would  have  given  the  world  an  almanac,  but  for  the  fear  of 
injuring  his  friend  and  fellow-student.  Titan  Leeds.  "  But  this  ob- 
stacle (I  am  far  from  speaking  it  with  pleasure)  is  soon  to  be  re- 
moved, since  inexorable  death,  who  was  never  known  to  respect 
merit,  has  already  prepared  the  mortal  dart,  the  fatal  sister  has  al- 
ready extended  her  destroying  shears,  and  that  ingenious  man  must 
soon  be  taken  from  us.  He  dies,  by  my  calculation,  made  at  his  re- 
quest, on  October  17,  1733,  3  ho.,  29  ra.,  P.  M.,  at  the  very  instant 
of  the  6  of  O  and  ^  .  By  his  own  calculation,  he  will  survive  till 
the  26th  of  the  same  month.  This  small  difference  between  us,  we 
have  disputed  whenever  we  have  met  these  nine  years  past ;  but  at 
length  he  is  inclined  to  agree  with  my  judgment.  Which  of  us  is 
most  exact,  a  little  time  will  now  determine.  As,  therefore,  these 
Provhices  may  not  longer  expect  to  see  any  of  his  performances 
after  this  year,  I  think  myself  free  to  take  up  the  task." 

The  next  year,  he  joyfully  acknowledged  the  success  of  his 
almanac,  through  which  his  wife  had  been  able  to  buy  a  pot  of  her 
own,  instead  of  being  obliged  to  borrow  one;  and  they  had  got 
something  to  put  into  it.  "  She  has  also  got  a  pair  of  shoes,  two 
now  shifts,  and  a  new  warm  petticoat;  and  for  my  part  I  have 
bought  a  second-hand  coat,  so  good  that  I  am  not  now  ashamed  to 
go  to  town  or  be  seen  there.  These  things  have  rendered  her  tem- 
per so  much  more  pacifick  than  it  us'd  to  be,  that  I  may  say,  I  have 
slept  more,  and  more  quietly,  within  this  last  year,  than  in  the  three 
foregoing  years  put  together."  Returning  to  Titan  Leeds,  he  says 
he  cannot  positively  say  whether  he  is  dead  or  alive,  since  he  was 
unable  to  be  present  at  the  closing  scene.  "  The  stars,"  he  observes, 
"  only  show  to  the  skilful  what  will  happen  in  the  natural  and  uni- 
versal chain  of  causes  and  effects;  but  'tis  well  known,  that  the 
events  which  would  otherwise  certainly  happen,  at  certain  times,  in 
the  course  of  nature,  are  sometimes  set  aside  or  postpon'd,  for  wise 
and  good  reasons,  by  the  immediate  particular  dispositions  of  Provi- 
dence ;  which  particular  dispositions  the  stars  can  by  no  means  dis- 
cover or  foreshow.  There  is,  however  (and  I  cannot  speak  it  with- 
out sorrow),  there  is  the  strongest  probability  that  my  dear  friend 
is  no  more ;   for  there  appears  in  his  name,  as  I  am  assured,  an 


230  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [l733. 

Almanack  for  tlie  year  1734,  in  which  I  am  treated  in  a  very  gross 
and  unhandsome  manner ;  in  which  I  am  called  a  false  predicter,  an 
ignorant,  a  conceited  scribbler,  a  fool,  and  a  lyar.  Mr.  Leeds  was 
too  well  bred  to  use  any  man  so  indecently  and  so  scurrilously,  and 
moreover,  his  esteem  and  aifection  for  me  was  extraordinary  :  so 
that  it  is  to  be  feared  that  pamphlet  may  be  only  a  contrivance 
of  somebody  or  other,  who  hopes,  perhaps,  to  sell  two  or  three 
years'  Almanacks  still,  by  the  sole  force  and  virtue  of  Mr.  Leeds's 
name." 

In  next  year's  preface,  the  fooling  is  still  more  exquisite :  "  Hav- 
ing received  much  abuse  from  Titan  Leeds  deceased  (Titan  Leeds, 
when  living,  would  not  have  used  rae  so:)  I  say,  having  received' 
much  abuse  from  the  ghost  of  Titan  Leeds,  who  pretends  to  be- still 
living,  and  to  write  almanacks  in  spight  of  me  and  my  predictions,  1' 
cannot  help  saying,  that  tho'  I  take  it  patiently,  I  take  it  very  un^ 
kindly.  And  whatever  he  may  pretend,  'tis  undoubtedly  true  that 
he  is  really  defunct  and  dead.  First,  because  the  stars  are  seldom- 
disappointed  ;  never  but  in  the  case  of  wise  men,  sapiens  domma- 
hitur  astris,  and  they  foreshowed  his  death  at  the  time  I  predicted 
it.  Secondly,  'twas  requisite  and  necessary  he  should  die  punc- 
tually at  that  time  for  the  honor  of  astrology,  the  art  professed  both 
by  him  and  his  father  before  him.  Thirdly,  'tis  plain  to  every  one 
that  reads  his  two  last  almanacks  (for  1734  and  '35)  that  they  are 
not  written  with  that  life  his  performances  used  to  be  written  with  : 
the  wit  is  low  and  flat ;  the  little  hints  dull  and  spiritless ;  nothing 
smart  in  them  but  Hudibras's  verses  against  astrology  at  the  heads 
of  the  months  in  the  last,  which  no  astrologer  but  a  dead  one  would 
have  inserted,  and  no  man  living  would  or  could  write  such  stuff  as 
the  rest." 

Titan  Leeds  retorted  by  saying  that  there  was  not,  and  never  had 
been,  such  a  person  as  Richard  Saunders  ;  to  which,  next  year, 
Franklin  humorously  replied.  One  preface  purported  to  be  writ- 
ten by  Bridget  Saunders,  the  wife  of  Poor  Richard,  and  another 
contained  a  long  letter  from  the  departed  spirit  of  Titan  Leeds,  as- 
suring his  old  friend  that  he  did  die  at  the  time  predicted  by  him. 
V  The  ninth  preface  descants  upon  the  rivals,  Poor  Will  and  Poor 
Robin,  which  the  success  of  Poor  Richard  had  called  into  being,  and 
ridicules  the  rage  of  his  enemies ;  but  all  in  the  most  perfect  good 
humor.     "  My  last  adversary,"  said  Poor  Richard,  "  is  J.  J- n^ 


A.GED    27.]       POOK    RICHAKD    AND    OTHER   PUBLICATIONS. 


231 


Philomat.^  who  declares  and  protests  {in  his  preface,  7141),  that  the 
false  prophecy  put  in  my  Almanac,  concern  big  him^  the  year  before^ 
is  altogether  M^Q  and  untrue,  aoid  that  I  am  one  of  BaaVs  false 
prophets.  This  false,  false  prophecy  he  speaks  of,  related  to  his 
reconciliation  with  the  church  of  Rome ;  which,  notwithstanding 
his  declaring  and  protesting,  is,  I  fear,  too  true.  Two  things  in  his 
elegiac  verses  confirm  me  in  this  suspicion.  He  calls  the  first  of 
ISTovember  All-Hallows  Day.  Reader,  does  not  this  smell  of 
Popery?  Does  it  in  the  least  savour  of  the  pure  language  of 
Friends  ?  But  the  plainest  thing  is  his  adoration  of  saints,  which  he 
confesses  to  be  his  practice,  in  these  words,  p.  4, 

"  When  any  trouble  did  me  befall, 
To  my  dear  Mary  then  I  would  call." 

Did  he  think  the  whole  world  were  so  stupid  as  not  to  take  notice 
of  this  ?  So  ignorant  as  not  to  know,  that  all  Catholics  pay  the 
highest  regard  to  the  Virgin  Mary  f  Ah,  friend  John.,  we  must 
allow  you  to  be  a  poet,  but  you  are  certainly  no  Protestant.  I  could 
heartily  wish  your  religion  were  as  good  as  your  verses." 

From  the  numbers  of  Poor  Richard  that  are  accessible,  I  select, 
as  specimens  of  its  proverbial  philosophy,  the  following : 

"  Love  well,  whip  well."  "  The  proof  of  gold  is  fire ;  the  proof  of 
a  woman,  gold  ;  the  proof  of  man,  a  woman."  "  There  is  no  little 
enemy."  ''  A  new  truth  is  a  truth  ;  an  old  error  is  an  error." 
Drink  water ;  put  the  money  in  your  pocket,  and  leave  the  dry 
belly-ache  in  the  punch-bowl."  "Necessity  never  made  a  good 
bargain."  "  Three  may  keep  a  secret,  if  two  of  them  are  dead." 
"  Deny  self  for  self's  sake."  *'  Keep  thy  shop  and  thy  shop  will 
keep  thee."  "  Opportunity  is  the  great  bawd."  '*  Here  comes  the 
orator  with  his  flood  of  words,  and  his  drop  of  reason."  "  Sal  laughs 
at  every  thing  you  say ;  why  ?  because  she  has  fine  teeth."  "  An 
old  young  man  will  be  a  young  old  man."  '^  He  is  no  clown  that 
drives  the  plough,  but  he  that  does  clownish  things."  "  Fore- 
warned, forearmed."  "Fish  and  visitors  smell  in  three  days." 
"  Diligence  is  the  mother  of  good  luck."  "  Wealth  is  not  his  that 
has  it,  but  his  that  enjoys  it,"  "  Let  thy  maid- servant  be  faithful, 
strong,  and  homely."  "  He  that  can  have  patience  can  have  what 
he  will."  "Don't  throw  stones  at  your  neighbors,  if  your  own 
windows  are  glass."     "  Good  wives  and  good  plantations  are  made 


282  LIFE  AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1733. 

by  good  husbands."  "  God  heals,  the  doctor  takes  the  fee."  "  The 
noblest  question  in  the  world  is,  what  good  may  I  do  in  it  ?"  "  There 
are  three  faithful  friends,  an  old  wife,  an  old  dog,  and  ready  money." 
"Who  has  deceived  thee  so  oft  as  thyself?"  "Fly  pleasures  and 
they'll  follow  you."  "  Hast  thou  virtue  ?  acquire  also  the  graces 
and  beauties  of  virtue."  "  He  that  would  have  a  short  lent,  let  him 
borrow  money  to  be  repaid  at  Easter."  "  Keep  your  eyes  wide  open 
before  marriage;  half  shut  afterwards."  "As  we  must  account  for 
every  idle  word,  so  we  must  for  every  idle  silence."  "  Search 
others  for  their  virtues,  thyself  for  thy  vices."  "  Grace  thou  thy 
house,  and  let  not  that  grace  thee."  "  Let  thy  child's  first  lesson 
be  obedience,  and  the  second  will  be  what  thou  wilt."  "Let  thy 
discontents  be  thy  secrets."  "  Industry  need  not  wish."  "  Happy 
that  nation,  fortunate  that  age,  whose  history  is  not  diverting." 
"To  bear  other  people's  afflictions,  every  one  has  courage  enough 
and  to  spare."  "  There  are  lazy  minds  as  well  as  lazy  bodies." 
"  Ti'icks  and  treachery  are  the  practice  of  fools,  that  have  not  wit 
enough  to  be  honest."  "  Let  no  pleasure  tempt  thee,  no  profit  allure 
thee,  no  ambition  corrupt  thee,  no  example  sway  thee,  no  persua- 
sion move  thee,  to  do  any  thing  which  thou  knowest  to  be  evil ;  so 
shalt  thou  always  live  jollily,  for  a  good  conscience  is  a  continual 
Christmas." 

These  wise  saws,  selected  from  a  dozen  numbers  of  Poor  Mich- 
ard^  give,  I  think,  a  fair  idea  of  the  general  spirit  of  this  part  of 
their  contents.  A  few  of  the  maxims  are  taken  from  Lord  Bacon's 
essays,  some  from  Rochefoucauld,  and  many  from  other  writers, 
but  upon  most,  Franklin  put  his  stamp  before  inserting  them.  A 
large  part  of  the  contents  of  Poor  Richard  is  rhyme,  and  rhyme  of 
very  poor  quality.  The  following  specimens  are  much  above  the 
average : 

Altho'  thy  teacher  act  not  as  he  preaches. 
Yet  ne'ertheless,  if  good,  do  what  he  teaches  ; 
Good  counsel,  failing  men  may  give,  for  why  ? 
He  that's  aground  knows  where  the  shoal  doth  lie. 
My  old  friend  Berryman  oft,  when  alive. 
Taught  others  thrift,  himself  could  never  thrive . 
Thus  like  the  whetstone,  many  men  are  wont 
To  sharpen  others  while  themselves  are  blunt. 


AGED    27.]       POOR    RICHARD    AND    OTHER    PUBLICATIONS.  233 

Syl.  dreamt  that  bury'd  in  his  fellow  clay, 
Close  by  a  common  beggar's  side  he  lay : 
And,  as  so  mean  a  neighbom*  shock'd  his  pride, 
Thus,  like  a  corpse  of  consequence,  he  cry'd ; 
Scoundrel,  begone ;  and  henceforth  touch  me  not : 
More  manners  learn  ;  and,  at  a  distance,  rot. 
How !  scoundrel !  in  a  haughtier  tone  cry'd  he ; 
Proud  lump  of  dirt,  I  scorn  thy  words  and  thee : 
Here  all  are  equal ;  now  thy  case  is  mine ; 
This  is  my  rotting  place,  and  that  is  thine. 


When  Robin  now  three  days  had  married  been, 

And  all  his  friends  and  neighbours  gave  him  joy, 
This  question  of  his  wife  he  asked  then, 

Why  till  her  marriage  day  she  proved  so  coy  ? 
Indeed  said  he,  'twas  well  thou  didst  not  yield. 

For  doubtless  then  my  purpose  was  to  leave  thee : 
O,  sir,  I  once  before  was  so  beguil'd. 

And  was  resolved  the  next  should  not  deceive  me. 


POETRY  FOR  DECEMBER,  1733. 

She  that  will  eat  her  breakfast  in  her  bed, 
And  spend  the  morn  in  dressing  of  her  head. 
And  sit  at  dinner  hke  a  maiden  bride. 
And  talk  of  nothing  all  day  but  of  pride ; 
God  in  his  mercy  may  do  much  to  save  her, 
But  what  a  case  is  he  in  that  shall  have  her. 


POETRY   FOR   DECEMBER,    1734. 
By  Mrs.  Bridget  Saunders,  my  Dutchess,  in  answer  to  the  December  verses  of  last  year. 

He  that  for  the  sake  of  drink  neglects  his  trade, 

And  spends  each  night  in  taverns  till  'tis  late. 

And  rises  when  the  sun  is  four  hours  high, 

And  ne'er  regards  his  starving  family, 

God  in  his  mercy  may  do  much  to  save  him, 

But,  woe  to  the  poor  wife,  whose  lot  it  is  to  have  him. 

The  astronomical  notices  of  Poor  Richard  have  in  them  a  strong 
spice  of  the  comic,  and  he  has  many  paragraphs  in  ridicule  of  the 


234  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l733. 

predictions  which  the  almanac-makers  of  that  day  were  accustomed 
to  insert.  Readers  of  Rabelais  will  perceive  that  several  of  the 
sentences  in  the  following  paragraph  are  taken  entire  from  the  con> 
mon  translation  of  that  humorist :  * 

"  During  the  first  visible  ecUpse  Saturn  is  retrograde :  For  whioH 
reason  the  crabs  will  go  sidelong,  and  the  ropemakers  backwar4. 
Mercury  will  have  his  share  in  these  affairs,  and  so  confound  the 
speech  of  the  people,  that  when  a  Pennsylvanian  would  say  pan* 
THEE  he  shall  say  painter. — When  a  New  Yorker  thinks  to  say  this 
he  shall  say  diss,  and  the  people  in  New  England  and  Cape  May 
wiU  not  be  able  to  say  cow  for  their  lives,  but  will  be  forc'd  to  say 
KEOW  by  a  certain  involuntary  twist  in  the  root  of  their  tongues. 
No  Connecticut  man^  nor  Marylander  will  be  able  to  open  his 
mouth  this  year,  but  sir  shall  be  the  first  or  last  syllable  he  pro- 
nounces, and  sometimes  both. — Brutes  shall  speak  in  many  places, 
and  there  will  be  above  seven  and  twenty  irregular  verbs  made  this 
year,  if  Grammar  don't  interpose. — Who  can  help  these  misfor- 
tunes ?  This  year  the  stone-blind  shall  see  but  very  little  ;  the  deaf 
shall  hear  but  poorly ;  and  the  dumb  shan't  speak  very  plain.  And 
it's  much,  if  my  Dame  Bridget  talks  at  all  this  year.  Whole  flocks, 
herds,  and  droves  of  sheep,  swine  and  oxen,  cocks  and  hens,  ducks 
and  drakes,  geese  and  ganders  shall  go  to  pot ;  but  the  mortality 
will  not  be  altogether  so  great  among  cats,  dogs  and  horses.  As 
to  old  age  'twill  be  incurable  this  year,  because  of  the  years  past. 
And  towards  the  fiiU  some  people  will  be  seiz'd  with  an  unaccount- 
able inclination  to  roast  and  eat  their  own  ears :  Should  this  be  call'd 
madness,  Doctors  ?  I  think  not.  But  the  worst  disease  of  all  will 
be  a  certain  most  horrid,  dreadful,  malignant,  catching,  perverse 
and  odious  malady,  almost  epidemical,  insomuch  that  many  shall 
run  mad  upon  it ;  I  quake  for  very  fear  when  I  think  on't ;  for  I 
assure  you  very  few  will  escape  this  disease;  which  is  called  by 
the  learned  Albromazar  Lackd'Tnony!''' 

Poor  Pichard^  at  this  day,  would  be  reckoned  an  indecent  pro- 
duction. All  great  humorists  were  more  or  less  indecent  before 
Charles  Dickens ;  ^.  6.,  they  used  certain  words  which  are  now 
never  pronounced  by  polite  persons,  and  are  never  printed  by  re- 
spectable printers;  and  they  referred  freely  to  certain  subjects 
which  are  familiar  to  every  living  creature,  but  which,  it  is  now 

*  See  Bohn's  edition  of  Rabelais,  ii.,  545. 


AGED  27.]        POOR   RICHAKD   AND    OTHER   PUBLICATIONS.  235 

agreed  among  civilized  beings,  shall  not  be  topics  of  conversation. 
In  this  respect,  Poor  Richard  was  no  worse,  and  not  much  better, 
than  other  colonial  periodicals,  some  of  which  contained  things 
incredibly  obscene ;  as  much  so  as  the  broadest  passages  of  Sterne, 
Smollett,  Fielding,  and  Defoe. 

It  has  been  remarked  and  by  several  authors,  that  the  present  de- 
cency of  humorous  and  all  popular  literature  is  owing  to  the  admis- 
sion of  women  to  the  circle  of  readers.  This  does  not  appear  to  be 
the  true  explanation.  It  would  be  easy  to  show  that  when  men 
are  indecorous,  w^omen  are  rather  more  so ;  and  that  the  writings 
and  conversation  of  women  in  the  age  of  Lady  Mary  Wortley  Mon- 
tague and  the  Countess  Temple  were  quite  as  gross  as  those  of  the 
other  sex.  In  all  times  and  countries  the  sexes  are  morally  equal ; 
they  improve  and  retrograde  together.  Hannah  More  tells  us,  that 
when  she  was  a  girl,  books  were  read  aloud  in  the  family  circle 
without  exciting  the  slightest  remark  for  their  grossness,  which, 
when  she  was  an  old  woman,  would  not  be  allowed  to  be  brought 
into  any  respectable  house  in  England.  Popular  literature  is  purer  ""^^^ 
than  it  was,  I  suppose,  because  the  men  and  women  that  read  it  j 
are  purer  than  their  forefathers,  who  saw  nothing  objectionable  in  / 
Tom  Jones,  Humphrey  Chnker,  and  Moll  Flanders.  .,--^ 

The  great  sale  of  the  first  number  of  Poor  Richard  placed  at 
command  of  the  printer  thereof  a  little  superfluous  capital,  which 
he  invested  wisely.  One  of  his  journeymen  he  sent  to  Charleston, 
where  there  was  no  printer,  and  furnished  him  with  a  press  and 
type,  on  condition  of  receiving  one-third  of  the  profits  of  the  busi- 
ness. The  scheme  succeeded,  and  he  afterwards  promoted  many 
of  his  best  workmen  in  the  same  manner.  "  Most  of  them,"  he  re- 
marks, "  did  well,  being  enabled  at  the  end  of  our  term  (six  years), 
to  purchase  the  types  of  me,  and  go  on  working  for  themselves,  by 
which  means  several  families  were  raised.  Partnerships  often  finish 
in  quarrels ;  but  I  was  happy  in  this,  that  mine  were  all  carried  on 
and  ended  amicably ;  owing,  I  think,  a  good  deal  to  the  precaution 
of  having  very  exj^licitly  settled  in  our  articles  every  thing  to  be 
done  by,  or  expected  from,  each  partner,  so  that  there  was  nothing 
to  dispute,  which  precaution  I  would  therefore  recommend  to  all 
who  enter  into  partnership." 

Poor  Richard,  too,  enabled  him,  in  this  year,  1733,  to  revisit  his 
native  Boston,  after  an  absence  of  nearly  ten  years.     To  the  end  of 


SJ86  LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FBANKLIN.  [l733. 

his  life  he  visited  Boston  every  ten  years,  except  when  prevented 
by  war,  absence  from  the  country,  or  disease.  He  left  it  first  in 
1723,  returned  in  1724;  went  again  in  1733,  in  1743,  1753,  and 
1763.*  On  his  return  from  Boston,  he  stopped  at  Newport,  where 
lived  his  brother  James,  from  whom  he  had  parted  on  ill  terms. 
All  past  differences  were  forgotten,  and  they  passed  some  time  to- 
gether with  the  utmost  cordiality.  James  Franklin,  who  was  in 
declining  health,  asked  his  brother  to  take  home  with  him  to  Philar 
delphia,  and  bring  up  to  the  printing  business  his  son,  then  ten  years 
of  age,  in  case  the  boy  should  be  left  fatherless.  Franklin  promised 
to  do  so,  and  kept  his  promise.  He  sent  the  boy  to  school,  taught 
him  his  trade,  and  sent  him  home  to  his  mother,  who  had  carried 
on  the  business  at  Newport  after  her  husband's  death,  with  a  new 
assortment  of  type.  "  Thus  it  was  that  I  made  my  brother  ample 
amends,"  says  Franklin.  In  Thomas's  "  History  of  Printing,"  we 
have  a  pleasing  notice  of  Mrs.  James  Franklin,  of  Newport,  and  her 
diligent  daughters.  "She  was  aided,"  says  Mr.  Thomas,  "by 
her  two  daughters,  and  afterwards  by  her  son,  when  he  attained 
competent  age.  Her  daughters  were  quick  and  correct  composi- 
tors at  case  ;  they  were  instructed  by  their  father,  whom  they  as- 
sisted. A  gentleman,  who  was  acquainted  with  Anne  Franklin  and 
her  family,  informed  me  that  he  had  often  seen  her  daughters  at 
work  in  the  printing-house,  and  that  they  were  sensible  and  amia- 
ble women."f  It  thus  appears  that  the  employment  of  women  as 
compositors  is  not  a  recent  idea. 

Returning  to  Philadelphia,  Franklin  prosecuted  his  affairs  with 
renewed  energy.  He  began  to  import  books  from  England,  occa- 
sionally published  a  small  work  on  his  own  account,  and  became 
the  favorite  printer  for  the  clergy. 

One  who  looks  over  the  book  advertisements  in  the  colonial 
newspapers,  is  astonished  to  observe  what  a  large  proportion  of 
the  publications  were  religious — not  less  than  nine-tenths,  I  think. 
Nearly  every  book  that  Franklin  ever  printed  was  religious.  Noth- 
ing stayed  the  torrent  of  sectarian  tracts  but  the  old  French  war, 
and  the  agitation  that  resulted  from  the  stamp-act. 

In  1729,  which  we  may  consider  their  first  year,  Franklin  and 
Meredith  printed,  besides  the  pamphlet  on  Paper  Money,  one  work 

*  Franklin  to  Samuel  Mather,  1T84.    Sparks,  vol.  x.,  p.  84. 
t  Thomas's  History  of  Printing,  i.,  p.  420. 


AGED  27.]        POOR   KICHAED   AND    OTHER   PUBLICATIONS.  237 

only,  entitled  "  A  Short  Discourse,  proving  that  the  Jewish  or 
Seventh  Day  Sabbath  is  abrogated  or  repealed.  By  John  Mere- 
dith— sixpence."  In  1730,  they  printed  "The  Spirit's  Teaching 
Man's  Sure  Guide;"  a  short  tract.  In  1731,  Franklin  printed 
"  Some  Considerations  relating  to  the  Present  State  of  the  Christian 
Religion."  In  1732,  "The  Minister  of  Christ  and  his  Flock;"  a 
sermon.  In  1733,  "  The  Temporal  Interest  of  North  America,  by 
a  Lover  of  his  Country."  In  1734,  "The  Indian  Tale  Interpreted 
jind  told  in  English  Verse" — sixpence ;  the  "  Constitutions  of  the 
Free  Masons;"  a  reprint — 2s.  6d.  stitched,  4s.  bound;"  "The  Gen- 
tlemen's Pocket  Farrier"* — Is. ;  "  Every  Man  his  Own  Doctor,  or 
the  Poor  Planter's  Physician."f 

When  Franklin  had  been  in  business  ten  or  twelve  years,  both 
the  number  and  the  importance  of  his  publications  increased.  In 
1739,  he  printed  only  "The  Art  of  Preaching,  in  Imitation  of 
Horace ;"  "  Art  of  Painting — sixpence ;"  "  A  Poem  on  the  History 
of  Joseph — price  Is."  But  in  1740,  his  list  is  much  longer :  "Whit- 
iield's  Sermons  and  Journals — two  volumes ;"  "  A  Letter  from  Rev. 
Mr.  Whitfield  to  the  Religious  Societies  lately  formed  in  England 
and  Wales  ;"  "  A  Letter  from  the  Rev.  Mr.  Whitfield  to  a  friend 
in  London,  showing  the  fundamental  errors  of  the  book  entitled, 
"  The  Whole  Duty  of  Man ;"  "  The  Danger  of  an  Unconverted  Min- 
istry Considered  by  Gilbert  Tennent — sixpence  ;"  "  Sir  Matthew 
Hale's  Sum  of  Religion ;"  "  The  Character,  Preaching,  etc.,  of  the 
Rev.  George  Whitfield,  impartially  represented  and  supported  in  a 
Sermon  preached  at  Charleston,  S.  C. — fourpence ;"  "  A  new  and 
complete  Guide  to  the  English  Tongue.  Collected  by  an  ingenious 
hand,  for  the  use  of  Schools — two  shillings  ;"  "  A  Continuation  of 
Whitfield's  Journal  after  his  arrival  at  Georgia,  and  his  return 
thither  from  Pennsylvania." 

In  1741,  Franklin  printed  the  following  works  :  "  Free  Grace,  a 

♦  "Just  published,  and  sold  by  the  Printer,  "The  Qentleman's  Pocket  Farrier,  shewing  how  to 
use  your  Horse  on  a  Journey,  and  what  Remedies  are  proper  for  common  misfortunes  that  may 
beftil  him  on  the  road.  By  Captain  William  Burdon.  London  Printed — Reprinted  by  B.  Frank- 
lin in  Philadelphia,  1735.    (Price  stitcht,  Is.) 

"N.  B.  This  little  Book  was  so  esteemed  by  the  Gentlemen  of  the  Army,  in  England,  that  it 
Boon  sold  for  half  a  Guinea  and  a  Guinea,  altho'  its  original  price  was  but  half  a  Crown." 

t  -'Just  Published,  Every  man  his  own  Doctor:  or  the  Poor  Planter's  Physician.  Prescribing 
plain  and  easy  means  for  Per.sous  to  cure  themselves  of  all,  or  most  of  the  Distempers  incident 
to  this  Climate,  and  with  very  little  Charge,  the  Medicines  being  chiefly  of  the  Growth  and  Pro- 
duction of  this  Country.  Sold  by  the  Printer  hereof,  pr.  Is.  with  Allowance  to  those  who  take  a 
Quantity  to  sell,  or  give  away  in  charity." 


238  LIFE   ANI)    TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1733. 

Sermon  by  Rev.  John  Wesley — sixpence ;"  "  Free  Orace  Indeed  I 
A  Letter  to  Rev.  John  Wesley — sixpence ;"  *'  Free  Grace  in  Truth. 
By  Rev.  John  Dylander,  minister  of  the  Swedish  church — three- 
pence;"  "A  Particular  Consideration  of  a  piece  entitled,  'The 
Querists ;'  "  "  A  Short  Reply  to  Rev.  Mr.  Whitfield's  Letter,  which 
he  wrote  in  answer  to  '  The  Querists' — eightpence  ;"  "  A  Sermon 
on  Justification.  By  the  Rev.  Gilbert  Tennent,  A.  M. — sixpence ;" 
"  Daily  Conversation  with  God,  exemplified  in  the  Holy  Life  of  Ar- 
melle  Nicholas :  done  out  of  the  French — threepence ;"  "  Poems  on 
Several  Occasions,  by  Aquila  Rose,  collected  by  his  son,  Joseph 
Rose ;"  "  The  Psalms  of  David  imitated,  by  Isaac  Watts."  Reprint- 
ed by  Franklin — 3s. ;  "  Mr,  Whitfield's  Journal,  from  his  leaving 
Stanford,  K  E.,  to  his  arrival  at  Falmouth,  Eng.,  March  11, 1741 — 
eightpence." 

In  1741,  Franklin  started  a  Monthly  Magazine,  one  of  the  very 
few  of  his  enterprises  that  did  not  succeed.  It  stopped  at  the  sixth 
number.  In  1744,  he  had  the  pleasure  of  publishing  a  translation 
of  Cicero's  Essay  upon  Old  Age,  by  his  valued  friend  and  patron, 
James  Logan,  which  was  reprinted  three  times  in  Great  Britain, 
and  highly  praised  by  English  critics.  In  the  same  year  he  re- 
printed that  beloved  novel  of  the  last  century,  "  Pamela,  or  Virtue 
Rewarded,"  a  six-shilling  book.  "  Bolingbroke's  Idea  of  a  Patriot 
King"  was  another  of  his  reprints,  an  amazingly  popular  tract  in 
its  day.  Nevertheless,  as  long  as  he  remained  in  business,  the  vast 
majority  of  his  publications  were  ephemeral  pamphlets  on  points  of 
doctrine,  books  of  devotion,  and  sermons  preached  on  special  oc- 
casions by  favorite  clergymen.  He  imported  from  England,  how- 
ever, every  important  work  that  appeared,  even  the  most  expensive. 

In  the  course  of  time,  he  established  a  German  printing-ofiice. 
Many  of  the  smaller  publications  of  that  day  were  published  in  both 
languages,  and  were  advertised  in  both.  There  were  then  exten- 
sive districts  in  Pennsylvania  where  the  German  was  the  only 
language  spoken. 

That  Franklin  had  grown  in  the  esteem  and  confidence  of  his 
fellow-citizens,  is  shown  by  many  trifling  incidents  of  this  part  of 
his  life.  He  was  one  of  those  men  who  are  often  selected  as  arbi- 
trators, and  whose  advice  is  asked.  "  Friend  Franklin,"  said  a 
noted  Quaker  lawyer  of  Philadelphia,  "  thou  knowest  everything. 
Canst  thou  tell  me  how  I  am  to  preserve  my  small  beer  in  the  back 


AGED  27.J        POOK  lilCHAED   AND  OTHER   PUBLICATIONS.  239 

yard?  My  neighbors,  I  find,  are  tapping  it  for  me."  Franklin's 
reply  was  :  "  Put  a  barrel  of  old  Maderia  by  the  side  of  it."  A  man 
who  frequently  makes  replies  of  that  kind,  need  not  have  Franklin's 
merit  to  be  admired  in  a  country  town. 

Nevertheless,  in  1736,  when  he  had  been  several  years  in  busi- 
ness, and  had  given  proof  upon  proof  that  he  had  the  best  head  in 
Pennsylvania,  he  was  thought  worthy  to  serve  the  public  in  no 
higher  capacity  than  clerk  to  the  General  Assembly,  the  legislature 
®f  the  colony,  an  office  of  little  emolument  and  no  great  honor. 
The  place,  however,  was  advantageous  to  him,  as  it  secured  to  him 
the  public  printing.  The  first  year,  he  tells  us,  he  was  elected 
unanimously,  but  the  second,  his  election  was  opposed  by  an  influ- 
ential member  who  had  another  candidate  in  view.  Franklin, 
nevertheless,  was  chosen. 

"  I  did  not  like,"  says  Franklin,  "  the  opposition  of  this  new 
member,  who  was  a  gentleman  of  fortune  and  education,  with  tal- 
ents that  were  likely  to  give  him,  in  time,  great  influence  in  the 
house,  which,  indeed,  afterward  happened.  I  did  not,  however, 
aim  at  gaining  his  favour  by  paying  any  servile  respect  to  him,  but 
after  some  time  took  this  other  method.  Having  heard  that  he 
had  in  his  library  a  certain  very  scarce  and  curious  book,  I  wrote 
a  note  to  him,  expressing  my  desire  of  perusing  that  book,  and  re- 
questing that  he  would  do  me  the  favour  of  lending  it  to  me  for  a 
few  days.  He  sent  it  immediately ;  and  I  returned  it  in  about  a 
week  with  another  note,  expressing  strongly  my  sense  of  the  favour. 
When  we  next  met  in  the  house,  he  spoke  to  me  (which  he  had 
never  done  before),  and  with  great  civility ;  and  he  ever  after  mani- 
fested a  readiness  to  serve  me  on  all  occasions,  so  that  we  became 
great  friends,  and  our  friendship  continued  to  his  death.  This  is 
another  instance  of  the  truth  of  an  old  maxim  I  had  learned,  which 
says,  '  He  that  has  once  done  you  a  kindness  will  be  more  ready  to 
do  you  another  than  he  whom  you  yourself  have  obliged.'*  And  it 
shows  how  much  more  profitable  it  is  prudently  to  remove,  than  to 
resent,  return,  and  continue  inimical  proceedings." 

This  is  one  of  the  few  passages  in  the  writings  of  Franklin  which 
justly  stirs  the  repugnance  of  an  ingenuous  reader.  In  this  single 
case,  Frankhn's  method  may  have  been  justifiable,  for  his  opponent 
may  have  been  a  very  great  fool,  not  to  be  won  fairly,  but  to  be 
easily  won  by  a  harmless  trick.     Yet  we  must  say  of  all  that  class  j 


240  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1736. 

of  maneuvers,  and  of  all  actions,  the  real  motive  of  which  is  diiferent 
from  the  apparent  one,  that  way  lies  perdition !  This  incident 
does  not  reveal  the  genuine  Franklin, — the  Franklin  who  "  grew 
convinced  that  truth,  sincerity^  and  integrity,  in  dealings  between 
man  and  man,  were  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  felicity  of  life." 
But,  perhaps,  I  make  too  much  of  this  small  aifair. 

Franklin  held  the  post  of  clerk  to  the  Assembly  for  more  than 
fourteen  years.  The  year  after  his  first  election,  he  was  appointed 
postmaster  of  Philadelphia,  an  office  that  was  valuable  to  him  only 
as  affording  better  facilities  for  procuring  news  and  distributing  his 
Gazette.  These  two  offices  gave  him  advantages  over  all  other 
printers  and  editors.  Thenceforward,  he  had  nothing  to  do  but 
hold  on  the  even  tenor  of  his  way,  and  wisely  use  what  he  easily 
gained. 

We  turn  now  to  his  inner  life  during  these  busy  years,  a  topic 
far  more  interesting. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

SELF-EDUCATION  CONTINUED. 

Fbanklin  read  the  books  of  the  new  library  assiduously.  "  In 
times  of  old,"  wrote  Coleridge,  "  books  were  as  religious  oracles ;  as 
literature  advanced,  they  next  became  venerable  preceptors ;  they 
then  descended  to  the  rank  of  instructive  friends ;  and,  as  their 
numbers  increased,  they  sunk  still  lower,  to  that  of  entertaining 
companions ; "  which  is  but  another  way  of  saying  that  books  have, 
in  part,  accomplished  their  purpose  of  raising  the  standard  of  general 
intelligence.  Books  have  not  "  sunk"  to  the  rank  of  entertaining 
companions,  but  the  public  has  risen  to  the  hight  of  companionship 
with  its  instructors.  When  Franklin  read  the  first  books  imported 
for  the  Philadelphia  Library,  books  had  not  attained  the  rank  last 
named,  if  they  had  even  that  of  instructive  friends.  Science,  His- 
tory, Travels  and  Voyages,  all  in  folio  or  quarto,  weighty  works  in 
every  sense,  constituted  the  bulk  of  the  books  imported  for  the 
library  during  the  first  twenty  years  of  its  existence.  To  this  hour, 
the  mass  of  the  books  in  this  library  b^'long  to  the  class  of  instruc- 
tive friends. 


AGED  30.]  SELF-EDUCATION   CONTINUED.  241 

Our  young  printer  appears  to  have  tackled  the  historical  works 
first ;  for  we  have  an  early  paper  of  his,  entitled  "  Observations  on 
my  reading  history  in  the  Library."  Some  of  these  observations 
are  such  as  might  have  been  expected  from  a  philosophic  diplo- 
matist of  fifty  years'  standing  in  European  courts,  not  from  a  young 
printer  in  a  young  colony.     They  were  to  the  following  effect : 

"  That  the  great  affairs  of  the  world,  the  wars,  revolutions,  &c., 
are  carried  on  and  effected  by  parties.  Tliat  the  view  of  these 
parties  is  their  general  present  interest ;  or  what  they  take  to  be 
such.  That  the  different  views  of  these  different  parties  occasion 
all  confusion.  That  while  a  party  is  carrying  on  a  general  design, 
each  man  has  his  particular  private  interest  in  view.  That,  as  soon 
as  a  party  has  gained  its  general  point,  each  member  becomes  intent 
upon  his  particular  interest,  which,  thwarting  others,  breaks  that 
party  into  divisions,  and  occasions  more  confusion.  That  few  in 
public  affairs  act  from  a  mere  view  of  the  good  of  their  country, 
whatever  they  may  pretend;  and  though  their  actings  bring  real 
good  to  their  country,  yet  men  primarily  considered  that  their  own 
and  their  country's  interest  were  united,  and  so  did  not  act  from  a 
principle  of  benevolence.  That  fewer  still,  in  public  affairs,  act 
with  a  view  to  the  good  of  mankind.  There  seems  to  me  at  present 
to  be  great  occasion  for  raising  a  United  Party  for  Virtue^  by 
forming  the  virtuous  and  good  men  of  all  nations  into  a  regular 
body,  to  be  governed  by  suitable  good  and  wise  rules,  which  good 
and  wise  men  may  probably  be  more  unanimous  in  their  obedience 
to  than  common  people  are  to  common  laws.  I  at  present  think, 
that  whoever  attempts  this  aright,  and  is  well  qualified,  cannot  fail 
of  pleasing  God  and  of  meeting  with  success." 

This  curious  production,  signed  with  the  initials  of  the  author,  lay 
among  his  papers  many  years,  and  bore  no  fruit.  He  tells  us,  how- 
ever, that  he  thought  much  upon  his  project  of  uniting  the  virtuous, 
drew  up  a  creed  for  the  members  of  the  proposed  Order,  and  com- 
municated the  scheme  to  one  or  two  friends,  who  evidently  approved 
it.  The  name  of  the  organization  was  to  have  been  the  Society  of 
the  Free  and  Easy :  that  is,  as  he  himself  explains.  Free  from  the 
dominion  of  vice  and  debt,  and  consequently  Easy  in  mind  and  cir- 
cumstances. While  he  was  revolving  this  scheme,  half  formed,  in 
his  mind,  certain  experiences  of  his  own  quickened  his  interest  in  it, 
and  suggested  some  important  details.  He  conceived  the  project 
11 


242  LIFE   AND   TIMES  OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1736. 

of  beooming  himself  morally  perfect.  "  I  wished,"  he  explains,  "  to 
live  without  committing  any  fault  at  any  time,  and  to  conquer  all  that 
either  natural  inclination,  custom,  or  company  might  lead  me  into. 
As  I  knew,  or  thought  I  knew,  what  was  right  and  wrong,  I  did  not 
see  why  I  might  not  always  do  the  one  and  avoid  the  other.  But 
I  soon  found  I  had  undertaken  a  task  of  more  difficulty  than  I  had 
imagined:  while  my  attention  was  taken  up,  and  care  employed  in 
guarding  against  one  fault,  I  was  often  surprised  by  another ;  habit 
took  the  advantage  of  inattention ;  inclination  was  sometimes  too 
strong  for  reason."  He  therefore  resolved  to  attend  to  one  of  the 
virtues  at  a  time,  and  having  made  a  little  progress  in  that,  to  pro- 
ceed to  another.  His  list  of  virtues  w^as  the  following  :  Temper- 
ance, Silence,  Ordei",  Resolution,  Frugality,  Industry,  Sincerity, 
Justice,  Moderation,  Cleanliness,  Tranquillity,  Chastity,  Humility, 
He  made  a  little  book,  in  which  he  allotted  to  each  of  these  virtues 
one  page,  so  ruled  with  red  and  black  ink  and  that  he  could  easily 
record  his  daily  delinquencies.  Thus  provided,  he  gave  one  week's 
particular  attention  to  each  virtue:  and  as  his  virtues  were  thirteen 
in  number,  he  was  able  to  go  through  his  book  four  times  a  year. 

The  success  of  this  singular  plan  was  at  first  not  very  flattering. 
"I  was  surprised,"  he  says,  "to  find  myself  so  much  fuller  of  faults 
than  I  had  imagined;  but  I  had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  them 
diminish.  To  avoid  the  trouble  of  renewing  now  and  then  my  little 
book,  which,  by  scraping  out  the  marks  on  the  paper  of  old  faults 
to  make  room  for  new  ones  in  a  new  course,  became  full  of  holes,  I 
transferred  my  tables  and  precepts  to  the  ivory  leaves  of  a  memo- 
randum book,  on  which  the  lines  were  drawn  with  red  ink,  that 
made  a  durable  stain  ;  and  on  those  lines  I  marked  my  faults  with 
a  black  lead  pencil ;  which  marks  I  could  easily  wipe  out  with  a . 
wet  sponge.  After  a  while  I  went  through  one  course  only  in  a 
year  ;  and  afterward  only  one  in  several  years ;  till  at  length  I 
omitted  them  entirely,  being  employed  in  voyages  and  business 
abroad,  with  a  multiplicity  of  affairs  that  interfered  ;  but  I  always 
carried  my  little  book  with  me." 

Two  of  the  virtues,  he  adds,  he  never  could  acquire :  Order  and 
Humility.  The  appearance  of  humility,  he  says,  he  contrived  to 
attain,  but  not  the  reality  of  it;  so  inveterate  is  pride  in  the  heart  of 
man,  that  if  he  had  acquired  this  virtue  he  should  doubtless  have 
been  proud  of  his  humility.     To  promote  habits  of  order,  he  drew 


AGED  30.]  SELF-EDUCATION   CONTINUED.  243 

up  a  scheme  of  the  day,  and  endeavored  to  conduct  his  life  in 
accordance  therewith.  He  rose  at  five,  washed  himself,  and  said  his 
prayer,  beginning,  Powerful  Goodness.  Then  he  laid  out  the 
business  of  the  day,  and  thought  of  the  particular  virtue  of  that 
week.  Then  he  studied  an  hour  and  a  half,  which  brought  him  to 
breakfast-time.  From  eight  to  twelve,  work  ;  then  dinner  and  rest 
till  one.  From  one  to  six,  work  again.  From  six  to  ten,  supper, 
music,  company,  diversion,  self-examination.  At  ten,  to  bed.  This 
scheme  he  could  practice  without  much  interruption,  but  he  never 
quite  learned  to  have  a  place  for  every  thing,  and  to  put  every  thing 
in  its  place. 

The  reader  may  be  inclined  to  smile  at  some  of  these  details.  It 
nevertheless  remains  true,  that  no  one  has  ever  acquired  uncommon 
virtue  without  having  made  the  acquirement  of  virtue  an  object  of 
specific  and  systematic  exertion.  Whatever  else  comes  to  us  by 
nature,  self-control  does  not :  it  has  to  be  acquired.  Franklin's  method 
was  the  method  suited  to  him  in  his  time,  circumstances,  and  sphere. 
If  the  ingenious  reader  knows  a  better,  let  him  rejoice,  and  practice  it. 
Franklin  declares,  in  serious  and  earnest  sentences  written  in  his 
seventy-ninth  year,  that  his  plan  was  beneficial  to  him  in  the  highest 
degree.  These  are  his  words :  "  It  may  be  well  my  posterity  should 
be  informed,  that  to  this  little  artifice,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  their 
ancestor  owed  the  constant  felicity  of  his  life  down  to  the  YQth  year, 
in  which  this  is  written.  What  reverses  may  attend  the  remainder  is 
in  the  hand  of  Providence  :  but  if  they  arrive,  the  reflection  on  past 
happiness  enjoyed  ought  to  help  his  bearing  them  with  more  resigna- 
tion. To  temperance  he  ascribes  his  long-continued  health,  and  what 
is  still  left  to  him  of  a  good  constitution.  To  industry  and  frugality^ 
the  early  easiness  of  his  circumstances  and  acquisition  of  his  fortune, 
with  all  that  knowledge  that  enabled  him  to  be  a  useful  citizen,  and 
obtained  for  him  some  degree  of  reputation  among  the  learned.  To 
sincerity  and  justice^  the  confidence  of  his  country,  and  the  honour- 
able employs  it  conferred  upon  him :  and  to  the  joint  influence  of 
the  whole  mass  of  the  virtues,  even  in  the  imperfect  state  he  was 
able  to  acquire  them,  all  that  evenness  of  temper  and  that  cheerful- 
ness in  conversation  which  makes  his  company  still  sought  for,  and 
agreeable  even  to  his  young  acquaintance." 

Learning  thus  how  diflicult  it  is  to  become  virtuous,  he  designed 
to  make  it  one  of  the  rules  of  the  Society  of  the  Free  and  Easy, 


r 


244  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l736. 

that  candidates  for  initiation  should  be  first  exercised  in  his  system 
of  self-examination  for,  at  least,  one  course  of  thirteen  weeks.  But 
the  society  was  never  formed.  Increasing  business  and  public  offices 
absorbed  his  time  until  it  was  too  late  to  attempt  it.  Late  in  life, 
however,  he  expressed  his  conviction  that  the  scheme  was  a  practi-^ 
cable  one.  We  may  go  farther,  and  say,  that  it  will  certainly  be 
realized ;  for  what  he  proposed  was  nothing  but  this  :  A  Church 
which  should  concern  itself  with  the  feelings,  the  principles,  and  the 
conduct  of  its  members,  but  not  with  their  opinions.  Some  of  the 
recently  founded  Orders  are  a  partial  carrying  out  of  Franklin's 
idea.  His  whole  heart  was  in  this  "  great  and  extensive  project," 
as  he  styles  it,  and  he  proposed,  when  it  was  undertaken,  to  devote 
all  his  time  and  strength  to  it. 

When,  at  last,  he  was  compelled  to  relinquish  the  scheme,  he 
formed  a  design  of  writing  a  little  treatise  on  the  Art  of  Virtue,  in 
which  his  own  method  of  cultivating  virtue  should  be  explained  and 
recommended.  But  this  project,  also,  though  fondly  dwelt  upon 
for  sixty  years,  he  never  found  leisure  to  execute.  Nor  does  it  ap- 
pear that  the  world  has  lost  much  by  his  neglect,  for  he  proposed 
to  appeal  chiefly  to  the  reader's  sense  of  his  own  interest ;  a  consid- 
eration that  never  yet  made  a  man  virtuous.  "  It  was  my  design," 
says  Franklin,  "  to  explain  and  enforce  this  doctrine,  that  vicious 
actions  are  not  hurtful  because  they  are  forbidden^  hut  forbidden 
becatcse  they  are  hurtftil ;  the  nature  of  man  alone  considered :  that 
it  was,  therefore,  every  one's  interest  to  be  virtuous,  who  wished  to 
be  happy  even  in  this  world :  and  I  should,  from  this  circumstance 
(there  being  always  in  the  world  a  number  of  rich  merchants,  no- 
bility, states,  and  princes  who  have  need  of  honest  instruments  for 
the  management  of  their  affairs,  and  such  being  so  rare),  have  en- 
deavoured to  convince  young  persons,  that  no  qualities  are  so  likely 
to  make  a  poor  man's  fortune  as  those  of  probity  and  integrity,''^ 

This  is  another  passage  that  gives  pause  to  the  generous  reader ; 
who  will  discover,  ere  long,  if  he  has  not  already,  that  it  does  not 
reveal  to  us  the  true  Franklin.  He  really  loved  virtue  for  its  own  sakej 
and  at  the  spectacle  of  meanness  or  iniquity  glowed  with  a  noble, 
uncalculating  wrath.  But  in  this  passage,  writing  with  a  view  to 
influence  the  young,  he  permitted  himself  to  use  an  argument  which 
he  thought  adapted  to  their  moral  capacity.  No  one  knew  better 
than  Franklin  came  to  know,  what  kind  of  men  princes,  at  that  day, 


AGED  30.]  SELF-EDUCATION    CONTINUED.  245 

vv  ere  accustomed  to  advance ;  and  no  one  knew  better  than  he,  that 
a  man's  prosperity  depends,  not  at  all  upon  his  virtue,  but  upon  his 
ability  to  render  the  public  a  service  which  the  public  wants  ren- 
dered. The  man  most  destitute  of  moral  worth  whom  this  land 
has  ever  known  is  he  whose  prosperity  is,  this  day,  the  most  rooted 
and  immutable,  for  the  simple  reason  that  no  one  will  give  his  pub- 
lic a  three  cents'  worth  which  is,  at  once,  better  and  more  agreeable 
than  that  which  he  gives.  It  was  not  Franklin's  virtue  that  made 
him  a  prosperous  citizen  :  it  was  his  skill,  his  energy,  his  knowledge. 
His  virtue  it  was  that  made  him  beloved,  and  enabled  him  to  love. 
It  was  his  virtue  that  rendered  his  prosperity  a  blessing  to  him  and 
to  others.  It  was  his  virtue  that  made  him  that  happy  an4  glori- 
ous Franklin  whom  three  generations  have  justly  revered.    \ 

To  return  to  his  studies.  When  a  man  spends  twelve  Hours  a 
week  at  his  books,  he  soon  ceases  to  be  satisfied  with  mere  reading. 
In  1733,  Franklin  began  the  study  of  languages,  and  soon  learned 
to  read  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish.  His  progress  in  Italian 
was  promoted  by  his  love  of  the  game  of  chess.  A  friend,  who 
was  also  learning  the  Italian,  often  lured  him  from  his  books  by 
challenging  him  to  play  at  this  game.  At  length,  he  refused  to 
play  any  more  except  upon  condition  the  victor  should  impose 
a  task  upon  the  vanquished,  such  as  learning  a  verb  or  writing 
a  translation,  which  task  should  be  performed  before  the  next 
meeting.  As  they  played  about  equally,  they  beat  one  another 
into  the  acquisition  of  the  Italian  language. 

Having  become  tolerably  proficient  in  French,  Italian,  and  Spanish, 
he  was  led  by  an  accident  to  undertake  the  Latin.  His  experience 
with  this  language  is  worthy  the  most  serious  consideration  of  all 
persons  who  are  interested  in  teaching  languages,  or  who  contem- 
plate learning  them.  Looking  over  a  Latin  testament,  one  day,  he 
was  surprised  to  find  that  his  knowledge  of  the  three  modern  lan- 
guages, together  with  his  dim  recollection  of  his  year's  study  of 
Latin  at  the  Boston  Grammar-School,  enabled  him  to  read  the  Latin 
testament  with  considerable  facility.  Encouraged  by  this,  he  re- 
sumed the  study  of  Latin,  a  language  he  had  always  been  fond  of 
quoting.  If  we  may  judge  from  the  long  quotations  from  various 
authors  in  his  writings  of  this  period,  we  must  conclude  that  he 
read  a  good  deal  of  Latin. 

He  became  convinced  that  the  true  order  of  acquiring  languages 


24G  LIFE    AND  TIMES   OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1136. 

is,  the  modern  first,  and  the  ancient  afterwards.  "  We  are  told," 
he  says,  "  that  it  is  proper  to  begin  first  with  the  Latin,  and,  having 
acquired  that,  it  will  be  more  easy  to  attain  those  modern  languages 
which  are  derived  from  it ;  and  yet  we  do  not  begin  with  the  Greek 
in  order  more  easily  to  acquire  the  Latin."  "  I  would,  therefore," 
he  adds,  "  oflfer  it  to  the  consideration  of  those  who  superintend 
the  education  of  our  youth,  whether — since  many  of  those  who 
begin  with  the  Latin,  quit  the  same  after  spending  some  years  with- 
out having  made  any  great  proficiency,  and  what  they  have  learned 
becomes  almost  useless,  so  that  their  time  has  been  lost — it  would 
not  have  been  better  to  have  begun  with  the  French,  proceeding  to 
the  Italian  and  Latin.  For  though,  after  spending  the  same  time, 
they  should  quit  the  study  of  languages  and  never  arrive  at  the 
Latin,  they  would,  however,  have  acquired  another  tongue  or  two, 
that,  being  in  modern  use,  might  be  serviceable  to  them  in  common 
life." 

This  is  one  of  the  most  valuable  of  the  many  valuable  suggestions 
in  the  writings  of  Franklin.  It  may  end  the  controversy  between 
those  who  say  that  the  ancient  languages,  and  those  who  think  that 
the  modern  languages,  should  be  the  chief  means  of  educating  the 
young. 

Music  is  mentioned  by  Franklin  as  a  diversion,  but  he  pursued  it 
with  more  than  the  devotion  of  an  ordinary  amateur.  He  appears 
to  have  played  on  several  instruments,  and  to  have  studied  their 
nature  and  powers.  The  harp,  the  guitar,  the  violin,  and  the  vio- 
loncello, appear  to  have  been  the  instruments  he  most  affected,  until, 
later  in  life,  he  improved  the  armonica.  Leigh  Hunt,  whose  pa- 
rents once  lived  at  Philadelphia,  mentions  that  Franklin  offered  to 
teach  his  mother  the  guitar.'^' 

We  have  seen  that  Franklin  was  not  well  pleased  with  the  preach- 
ers of  his  day.  In  1734,  came  to  Philadelphia  a  young  Presbyterian 
preacher,  named  Hemphill,  who  won  his  decided  approval,  since  he 
had  little  to  say  of  dogmas,  but  eloquently  inculcated  the  practice 
of  virtue.  So  satisfied  was  Franklin  with  his  preaching,  and  so 
convinced  of  its  utility,  that  he  even  became  himself  one  of  his  reg- 
ular hearers.  The  orthodox  clergy,  disapproving  the  doctrines  of 
the  young  stranger,  arraigned  him  before  the  synod  in  order  to 

*  Autobiography  of  Leigh  Hunt,  i.,  130. 


AGED  30.]  SELF-EDUCATION   CONTINUED.  247 

silence  him,  and,  of  course,  the  community  was  immediately  rent 
into  factions,  one  for  and  the  other  against  Mr.  Hemphill.  Franklin 
became  his  active  partisan,  wrote  and  published  two  pamphlets  in 
his  fsiVOXs  and  defended  him  in  his  Gazette.  While  the  contest  was 
raging,  an  event  most  unlucky  for  the  young  preacher  occurred. 
One  of  his  enemies  heard  him  deliver  a  sermon,  one  day,  which 
was  greatly  admired,  but  which  this  enemy  thought  he  had  read 
somewhere.  On  searching,  he  found  the  principal  passage  quoted  in 
an  English  review  from  a  late  volume  of  sermons  by  Dr.  James 
Fostei-  the  most  popular  London  preacher  of  that  generation,  who 
was  praised  by  Pope,  and  quoted  by  Bolingbroke,  "  This  detec- 
tion," says  Franklin,  "gave  many  of  our  party  disgust,  who  accord- 
ingly abandoned  his  cause,  and  occasioned  our  more  speedy  discom- 
fiture in  the  synod.  I  stuck  by  him,  however;  I  rather  approved 
his  giving  us  good  sermons  composed  by  others,  than  bad  ones  of 
his  own  manufacture ;  though  the  latter  was  the  practice  of  our 
common  teachers."  The  Philadelphians  thought  otherwise,  and 
poor  Hemphill  had  to  go  elsewhere  in  search  of  a  congregation.  He 
confessed  to  Franklin  that  all  his  sermons  were  stolen. 

The  home  of  Franklin  in  these  years  of  activity  was  enlivened 
by  the  presence  of  children  and  apprentices.  The  flower  of  his 
little  flock  was  his  second  son,  Francis  Folger  FrankUn,  born  a  year 
after  his  marriage ;  one  of  the  loveliest  and  most  promising  of  chil- 
dren. Franklin's  children  were  all  of  noble  proportions,  and  gave 
great  promise  of  intelligence  and  worth,  which  promise  was  fulfilled 
in  only  one  of  them.  This  little  "  Franky  Franklin"  was  a  most 
engaging  child,  of  singular  beauty  and  wonderful  knowingness. 
Franklin  perhaps  never  loved  a  living  creature  as  he  loved  this  only 
son  of  his  marriage.  In  the  Gazette  of  December,  1734,  when  Wil- 
liam Franklin  was  four  years  old,  and  Francis  more  than  two,  the 
following  advertisement  appeared,  which,  probably,  concerned  the 
boys :  "  Any  Person  who  has  a  Servant  to  dispose  of  that  is  a 
scholar  and  can  teach  Children  Reading,  Writing  and  Arithmetick, 
may  hear  of  a  Purchaser  by  enquiring  of  the  Printer  hereof." 

So  tenderly  did  Franklin  love  his  boy  that  he  could  not  bear  the 
thought  of  exposing  him  even  to  the  slight  peril  of  inoculation, 
though  he  had  long  been  one  of  the  champions  of  the  system.  Ho 
had  seen  such  fearful  havoc  made  by  the  smallpox,  both  in  Boston 


248  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [l736. 

and  Philadelphia,  that  we  can  only  wonder  at  this  omission.  A  year 
before  the  boy  was  born,  he  had  written  to  his  sister  Jane  :  "  We- 
have  had  the  smallpox  here  lately,  which  raged  violently  while  it 
lasted.  There  have  been  about  fifty  persons  inoculated,  who  all 
recovered  except  a  child  of  the  doctor's,  upon  whom  the  smallpox 
appeared  within  a  day  or  two  after  the  operation,  and  who  is  there- 
fore thought  to  have  been  certainly  infected  before.  In  one  family 
in  my  neighborhood  there  appeared  a  great  mortality.  Mr.  George 
Claypoole  (a  descendant  of  Oliver  Cromwell),  had,  by  industry,  ac- 
quired a  great  estate,  and  being  in  excellent  business,  a  merchant, 
would  probably  have  doubled  it,  had  he  lived  according  to  the 
common  course  of  years.  He  died  first,  suddenly ;  within  a  short 
time  died  his  best  negro ;  then  one  of  his  children ;  then  a  negro 
woman ;  then  two  children  more,  buried  at  the  same  time ;  then  two 
more ;  so  that  I  saw  two  double  buryings  come  out  of  the  house  in 
one  week.  N^one  were  left  in  the  family,  but  the  mother  and  one 
child,  and  both  their  lives  till  lately  despaired  of" 

And  yet  he  did  not  have  his  darling  inoculated.  In  November, 
1736,  the  boy  being  then  four  years  old,  the  smallpox  was  again 
raging  in  Philadelphia,  and  this  beautiful  child  was  one  of  its  vic- 
tims. "  I  long  regretted  him  bitterly,"  his  father  wrote,  "  and  stiU 
regret  that  I  had  not  given  him  the  disease  by  inoculation."  Again, 
to  his  sister  Jane :  "  My  grandson  often  brings  afresh  to  my  mind  the 
idea  of  my  son  Franky,  though  now  dead  thirty-six  years,  whom  I 
have  seldom  since  seen  equaled  in  every  respect,  and  whom  to  this 
day  I  cannot  think  of  without  a  sigh." 

Those  who  have  visited  the  grave  of  Franklin,  in  that  well-known 
corner  of  Christ  Church  burying-ground,  in  Philadelphia,  may  have 
observed  a  very  small,  gray,  defaced,  and  much  broken  head-stone, 
close  to  the  principal  tomb.  It  is  not  as  high  as  the  June  grass, 
but  when  the  grass  is  brushed  aside,  the  little  stone  is  found  to  bear 
these  words : 

"  Francis  F. 
Son  of  Benjamin  and  Deborah 

Franklin,  ' 

Deceased,  Nov.  21,  1736, 
Aged  4  years,  1  month,  and  1  day. 
The  delight  of  all  that  knew  him." 


AGED  33.]  SELF-EDUCATION   CONTINUED.  249 

It  was  only  within  these  few  years  that  the  little  tomb-stone  was 
discovered  under  a  heap  of  rubbish,  near  the  grave  of  his  parents. 
When  the  tomb  of  Franklin  was  repaired  a  few  years  ago,  and  an 
aperture  made  in  the  wall  of  the  burial  ground,  to  render  it  visi- 
ble to  the  passers-by,  the  tomb-stone  of  the  boy  was  set  up  in  its 
proper  place.  A  portrait  of  the  child,  in  oil,  life  size,  has  been  pre- 
served to  this  day,  and  hangs  now  (1861)  in  the  house  of  one  of 
Franklin's  grand-daughters. 

In  1739  George  Whitefield  arrived  in  Philadelphia,  heralded  by  a 
prodigious  celebrity,  which  his  preaching  soon  justified.  White- 
field,  a  man  of  ardent  feeling,  fluent  tongue,  thrilling  voice,  and  very 
limited  understanding,  was  the  complete  opposite  of  Franklin,  who 
listened  to  his  paroxysms  of  eloquence  with  curious  placidity. 
Yet,  between  these  two  men  a  cordial  friendship  sprang  up,  which 
never  ceased  but  with  Whitefield's  life.  Indeed,  we  shall  find,  as 
we  go  on,  that  the  greater  number  of  the  men  whom  Franklin 
loved  were  clergymen,  which  is  another  proof,  that  people  who 
agree  morally,  agree^  no  matter  what  their  diiFerences  in  other 
respects.  Now,  this  unreflecting,  terror-inspiring  Whitefield  was  a 
^simple-hearted,  honest  gentleman,  who  wished  the  good  of  mankind, 
and  really  believed  that  the  best  service  he  could  do  his  fellow- 
men  was  to  "  shake  them  over  the  pit  of  hell,"  and  lay  prostrate 
their  souls  in  wild  alarm.  Franklin  also  was  an  honest  man,  that 
loved  his  brethren,  and  wished  to  do  them  good.  It  was  only  in  the 
method  that  he  and  Whitefield  diflered. 

Franklin  relates  some  capital  anecdotes  of  his  intercourse  with 
Whitefield.  On  the  return  of  the  orator  from  Georgia,  with  the 
project  of  founding  an  orphan  house  in  that  new  colony,  he  con- 
sulted his  friend  Franklin  on  the  subject.  Franklin  approved  the 
scheme,  but  strongly  advised  that  the  asylum  should  be  placed  in 
Philadelphia,  and  the  orphans  brought  to  it,  since  Georgia  was  then 
destitute  of  workmen  and  supplies.  His  advice  being  rejected,  he 
determined  not  to  subscribe.  "  I  happened  soon  after,"  says  Frank- 
lin, "  to  attend  one  of  his  sermons,  in  the  course  of  which  I  per- 
ceived he  intended  to  finish  with  a  collection,  and  I  silently  resolved 
he  should  get  nothing  from  me  ;  I  had  in  my  pocket  a  handful  of 
copper-money,  three  or  four  silver  dollars,  and  five  pistoles  in  gold  ; 
a;^  he  proceeded  I  began  to  soften,  and  concluded  to  give  the  cop- 
per. Another  stroke  of  his  oratory  made  me  ashamed  of  that,  and 
11* 


250  LIFE    AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [I'^'^O. 

determined  me  to  give  the  silver ;  and  he  finished  so  admirably, 
that  I  emptied  my  pocket  wholly  into  the  collector's  dish,  gold  and 
all !" 

Upon  another  occasion,  when  Whitefield  was  preaching  in  Market 
Street,  close  to  Franklin's  shop,  Franklin  behaved  more  like  a 
philosopher.  "  I  had  the  curiosity,"  he  says,  "  to  learn  how  far 
he  could  be  heard,  by  retiring  backward  down  the  street  towards 
the  river,  and  I  found  his  voice  distinct  till  I  came  near  Front 
Street,  when  some  noise  in  that  street  obscured  it.  Imagin- 
ing then  a  semicircle,  of  which  my  distance  should  be  the  radius, 
and  that  it  was  filled  with  auditors,  to  each  of  whom  I  allowed  two 
square  feet,  I  computed  that  he  might  well  be  heard  by  more  than 
thirty  thousand.  This  reconciled  me  to  the  newspaper  accounts  of 
his  having  preached  to  25,000  people  in  the  fields,  and  to  the  his- 
tory of  generals  haranguing  whole  armies,  of  which  I  had  some- 
times doubted." 

Upon  his  second  arrival  in  America,  Whitefield  wrote  from  Bos- 
ton to  Franklin,  asking  hira  to  secure  lodgings  for  him  in  Philadel- 
phia. Franklin  replied  :  "  You  know  my  house;  if  you  can  make 
'  shift  with  its  scanty  accommodations,  you  will  be  most  heartily 
welcome."  Whitefield  answered :  "  If  you  make  that  offer  for 
Christ's  sake,  you  will  not  miss  of  a  reward."  Franklin  rejoined  : 
"  Don't  let  me  be  mistaken  ;  it  was  not  for  Christ's  sake,  but  for 
your  sake." 

Franklin  mused  upon  the  strange  respect  felt  by  the  people  for  a 
man  who,  to  their  faces,  called  them  "  half  beasts  and  half  devils." 
"It  was  wonderful,"  he  adds,  *'  to  see  the  change  soon  made  in  the 
manners  of  our  inhabitants.  From  being  thoughtless  or  indifferent 
about  religion,  it  seemed  as  if  all  the  world  were  growing  religious, 
so  that  one  could  not  walk  through  the  town  in  an  evening  without 
hearing  psalms  sung  in  different  families  of  every  street.  And  it 
being  found  inconvenient  to  assemble  in  the  open  air,  subject  to  its 
inclemencies,  the  building  of  a  house  to  meet  in  was  no  sooner  pro- 
posed, and  persons  appointed  to  receive  contributions,  than  suffi- 
cient sums  were  received  to  procure  the  ground  and  erect  the 
building,  which  was  one  hundred  feet  long  and  seventy  broad ;  and 
the  work  was  carried  with  such  spirit  as  to  be  finished  in  a  much 
shorter  time  than  could  have  been  expected.  Both  house  and 
ground  were  vested  in  trustees,  expressly  for  the  use  oi  any  preacher 


AGED   33.]  SELF-EDUCATION   CONTrNTrED.  251 

of  any  religious  persuasion  who  might  desire  to  say  something  to 
the  people  at  Philadelphia ;  the  design  in  building  not  being  to 
accommodate  any  particular  sect,  but  the  inhabitants  in  general. 
So  that  even  if  the  Mufti  of  Constantinople  were  to  send  a  mis- 
sionary to  preach  Mahomedanism,  he  would  find  a  pulpit  at  liis 
service." 

In  the  midst  of  the  excitement  Franklin  announced  for  publica- 
tion four  volumes  of  Whitefield's  Sermons  and  Journals,  which  he 
brought  out  in  May,  1740.  The  advertisement  shows  that  Frank- 
lin knew  how  to  do  business  :  "  The  whole  number  of  names  sub- 
scribed far  exceeds  the  number  of  books  printed.  Tliose  sub- 
scribers who  have  paid,  or  who  bring  the  money  in  their  hands, 
will  have  the  preference." 

This  publication,  Franklin  thought,  was  most  damaging  to  the 
reputation  of  Whitefield,  since  it  was  his  matchless  delivery  which 
alone  gave  effect  to  his  sermons.  Wonderful  indeed  must  that 
delivery  have  been.  It  is  scarcely  possible  for  a  reader  of  the 
present  day  to  conceive  the  stir  created  throughout  the  country  by 
this  skillful  preacher.  A  single  paragraph  from  Franklin's  newspa- 
per may  serve  to  give  some  further  idea  of  it :  "  On  Thursday  last,* 
the  Reverend  Mr.  Whitefield  left  this  city,  and  was  accompanied  to 
Chester  by  about  one  hundred  and  fifty  horse,  and  preached  there 
to  about  seven  thousand  people.  On  Friday  he  preached  twice  at 
Willing's  Town  to  about  five  thousand  ;  on  Saturday  at  Newcastle 
to  about  two  thousand  five  hundred ;  and  the  same  evening  at 
Christiana  Bridge  to  about  three  thousand  ;  on  Sunday  at  White 
Clay  Creek,  he  preached  twice,  resting  about  half  an  hour  between 
the  sermons,  to  about  eight  thousand,  of  whom  three  thousand  it  is 
computed  came  on  horseback.  It  rained  most  of  the  time,  and  yet 
they  stood  in  the  open  air." 

Meanwhile,  the  studies  of  Franklin  were  never  intermitted.  He 
was  a  constant  observer  of  nature.  He  educed  grand  truths  from 
phenomena  which  are  esteemed  the  most  simple  and  commonplace. 
Ordinary  household  events  suggested  to  his  fertile  mind  magnifi- 
cent conceptions.  The  acquirement  of  other  knowledge  may  have 
assumed  something  of  the  nature  of  a  task,  but  not  so  his  researches 
in  science ;  these  were  the  irresistible  bent  of  his  mind.  He  was, 
as  before  remarked,  a  genuine  son  of  the  earth.  He  lived  close 
to  nature.     He  would  be  bathing  in  the  river,  an  hour  or  two  at  a 


262  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [l740. 

time,  nearly  every  evening  for  several  weeks  of  the  summer.  When 
in  closest  contact  with  natural  objects  he  seemed  most  at  home ;  and 
it  is  to  such  lovers  of  nature  that  nature  loves  to  disclose  her  secrets. 

There  is  something  infinitely  pleasing  in  the  homeliness  of  some 
of  Franklin's  first  observations  in  science.  Like  the  new  professors 
of  legerdemain,  he  required  "  no  apparatus."  Professor  Kalm,  who 
was  sent  out  by  the  Swedish  government  to  botanize  in  America, 
was  much  with  Franklin  in  1748,  and  has  left  some  slight  record 
of  their  conversations.  It  was  Professor  Kalm  who  first  told  the 
story  of  Franklin  and  the  ants,  that  once  had  even  a  school-book 
celebrity. 

"Mr.  Franklin,"  wrote  the  learned  Swede,  "was  inclined  to  be- 
lieve that  these  little  insects  could  by  some  means  communicate 
their  thoughts  to  each  other,  and  he  confirmed  his  opinion  by  some 
examples.  When  an  ant  finds  some  sugar,  it  runs  immediately 
under  ground  to  its  hole,  where  having  stayed  a  httle  while,  a 
whole  army  comes  out,  unites  and  marches  to  the  place  where  the 
sugar  is,  and  carries  it  off  by  pieces  :  or,  if  an  ant  meets  with  a 
dead  fly,  which  it  cannot  carry  alone,  it  immediately  hastens  home, 
and  soon  after  more  come  out,  creep  to  the  fly  and  carry  it  away. 
Some  time  ago  Mr.  Franklin  put  a  little  earthen-pot  with  treacle 
into  a  closet.  A  number  of  ants  got  into  the  pot  and  devoured  the 
treacle  very  quietly.  But  when  he  observed  it  he  shook  them  out, 
and  tied  the  pot  with  a  thin  string  to  a  nail  in  the  ceiling;  so  that 
the  pot  hung  down  by  the  string.  A  single  ant  by  chance  remained 
in  the  pot ;  and  this  ant  ate  till  it  was  satisfied.  But  when  it  wanted 
to  get  off,  it  was  under  great  concern  to  find  its  way  out ;  it  ran 
about  the  bottom  of  the  pot,  in  vain ;  but  at  last,  it  found,  after 
many  attempts,  the  way  to  get  to  tlie  ceiling  by  the  string.  After 
it  had  reached  the  ceiling,  it  ran  to  the  wall,  and  from  thence  to 
the  ground.  It  had  hardly  been  away  for  half  an  hour,  when  a 
great  swarm  of  ants  came  out,  got  up  to  the  ceiling,  and  crept 
along  the  string  into  the  pot,  and  began  to  eat  again.  This  they 
continued  till  the  treacle  was  all  eaten  ;  in  the  mean  time,  one 
swarm  running  down  the  string  and  the  other  up."* 

We  find  Franklin,  on  another  occasion,  contriving  a  little  tin 
wind-mill  in  a  hole  of  his  kitchen  wall,  for  the  purpose  of  turning  a 

*  Kalni's  Travels  in  America,  vol.  i.,  p.  808. 


AGED    34,]  SELF-EDUCATION    CONTINUED.  253 

jack,  an  ancient  machine  for  roasting  meat.  In  making  this  wind- 
mill, he  not  merely  displayed  mechanical  ingenuity,  but  drew  from 
its  operation  important  inferences  respecting  the  resistance  of  the 
air,  and  the  arrangement  of  the  sails  of  ships. 

In  1743,  one  of  those  happy  accidents  which  occur  to  observant 
men,  led  Franklin  to  his  famous  discovery  respecting  the  course  of 
storms.  Poor  Richard  having  announced  that  on  a  certain  evening 
at  nine  o'clock,  an  eclipse  of  the  moon  would  occur,  Franklin 
intended  to  observe  it.  But  before  the  time  arrived,  a  violent 
northeast  storm  of  wind  and  rain  arose,  which  continued  all  night 
and  all  the  next  day.  It  was  a  great  and  famous  storm,  which  did 
much  damage  on  sea  and  land,  and  was  noticed  in  all  the  newspa- 
pers of  the  colonies.  When  Franklin  received  his  Boston  exchanges, 
he  was  astonished  to  find  in  them,  besides  accounts  of  the  storm, 
descriptions  of  the  eclipse ;  which  showed  that  in  Boston  the  storm 
began  after  the  eclipse  was  over.  He  wrote  to  his  brother  in  Bos- 
ton, who  replied,  that  the  eclipse  was  over,  there,  one  hour  before 
the  storm  began.  On  pursuing  his  inquiries,  he  made  the  surpris- 
ing discovery,  that  all  those  fierce  northeast  storms  that  swept  our 
Atlantic  coast  move  backward,  i.  e.,  from  southwest  to  northeast, 
and  diminish  in  violence  as  they  go.  Franklin's  conjectural  expla- 
nation of  this  fact  is  refined  and  ingenious: 

"  Suppose  a  great  tract  of  country,  land  and  sea,  to  wit,  Florida 
and  the  Bay  of  Mexico,  to  have  clear  weather  for  several  days,  and 
to  be  heated  by  the  sun,  and  its  air  thereby  exceedingly  rarefied. 
Suppose  the  country  northeastward,  as  Pennsylvania,  New  Eng- 
land, Nova  Scotia,  and  Newfoundland,  to  be  at  the  same  time  cov- 
ered with  clouds,  and  its  air  chilled  and  condensed.  The  rarefied 
air  being  lighter  must  rise,  and  the  denser  air  next  to  it  will  press 
into  its  place ;  that  will  be  followed  by  the  next  denser  air,  that  by 
the  next,  and  so  on.  Thus  when  I  have  a  fire  in  my  chimney,  there 
is  a  current  of  air  constantly  flowing  from  the  door  to  the  chimney  ; 
but  the  beginning  of  the  motion  was  at  the  chimney,  where  the  air 
being  rarefied  by  the  fire  rising,  its  place  was  supplied  by  the  cooler 
air  that  was  next  to  it,  and  the  place  of  that  by  the  next,  and  so  on 
to  the  door.  So  the  water  in  a  long  sluice  or  mill-race,  being  stop- 
ped by  a  gate,  is  at  rest  like  the  air  in  a  calm ;  but  as  soon  as  you 
open  the  gate  at  one  end  to  let  it  out,  the  water  which  is  next  the 
gate  begins  first  to  move,  that  which  is  next  to  it  follows ;  and  so, 


254  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIX   FEATfKUJSr.  [1740. 

though  the  water  proceeds  forward  to  the  gate,  the  motion  which 
began  there  runs  backward,  if  one  may  so  speak,  to  the  upper  end 
of  the  race,  where  the  water  is  last  in  motion." 

About  the  same  time,  Franklin  invented  that  pleasant  fire-place, 
the  Franklin  stove,  Avhich  warmed  one  generation  of  colonial 
Americans,  and  another  generation  of  American  citizens,  and  began 
what  we  may  call  the  American  stove  system,  one  of  the  wonders 
of  the  industrial  world.  In  many  country  nooks,  the  Franklin 
stove  is  still  used,  particularly  in  tlie  South  ;  and  most  of  us  can  at 
least  remember  its  cheerful  fire.  It  was  the  wastefulness  of  the  old 
fire-places,  the  growing  scarcity  of  wood,  and  the  time-honored  nui- 
sance of  smoking  chimneys,  that  set  Franklin  at  work  upon  this  simple 
and  elegant  invention.  Coal,  then,  was  not  known  to  exist  in  the 
colonies,  and  wood  was  fast  receding  from  the  large  towns.  To 
promote  the  introduction  of  his  stoves,  the  inventor  wrote  an  exten- 
sive and  very  ingenious  pamphlet,  in  which  he  expounded  the  entire 
philosophy  of  house-warming,  and  explained  the  working  of  the 
new  apparatus,  Franklin,  however,  had  not  the  least  pecuniary 
interest  in  the  invention,  and  never  derived  profit  fi-om  it.  "  I 
made  a  present  of  the  model,"  he  says,  "  to  Mr.  Robert  Grace,  one 
of  my  early  friends,  who,  having  an  iron  furnace,  found  the  casting 
of  the  plates  for  these  stoves  a  profitable  thing,  as  they  were  grow- 
ing in  demand." 

Thus,  the  members  of  the  Junto  played  into  each  other's  hands 
and  pockets.  The  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  Franklin  adds,  "was 
BO  pleased  with  the  construction  of  this  stove,  that  he  offered  to 
give  me  a  patent  for  the  sole  vending  of  them  for  a  term  of  years ; 
but  I  declined  it,  from  a  principle  which  has  ever  weighed  with  me 
on  such  occasions,  viz.  :  Tliat  as  we  enjoy  great  advantages  from  the 
inventions  of  others,  we  should  be  glad  of  an  opportunity  to  serve 
others  by  any  invention  of  ours ;  and  this  we  should  do  freely  and 
generously.  An  ironmonger  in  London,  however,  assuming  a  good 
deal  of  my  pamphlet,  and  working  it  up  into  his  own,  and  making 
some  small  change  in  the  machine,  which  rather  hurt  its  operation, 
got  a  patent  for  it  there,  and  made,  as  I  was  told,  a  little  fortune 
by  it." 

Which  shows  how  wise  is  the  patent  system,  that  secures  the 
control  and  the  profit  of  an  invention  to  the  inventor.  But  Frank- 
lin was  all  liis  life  haunted  with  the  noble  fallacy,  that  he  who 


AGED    34.] 


SELF-EDUCATION   CONTINUED. 


255 


serves  his  country,  should  serve  it  for  nothing.  It  became,  at  a 
later  day,  one  of  his  most  fixed  and  cherished  maxims  of  policy, 
that  the  holders  of  public  office  should  not  be  paid  any  thing  but 
honor ;  the  work  of  the  state  being  done  by  men  who  had  earned 
leisure  by  a  successful  conduct  of  private  business. 

The  activity  of  Franklin's  mind  was  shown  in  his  trifling  amuse- 
ments. During  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly,  he  had  to  endure 
many  dull  hours,  perched  in  his  seat  as  clerk,  listening  to  debates 
in  which  he  could  take  no  part.  His  friend  Logan  showed  him  one 
day  a  French  book  of  "  Magical  Squares,"  an  idle  game  of  the  last 
century.  Franklin,  who  had  made  these  squares  in  his  youth,  now 
beguiled  the  tedium  of  the  daily  session  by  producing  squares  of 
extreme  intricacy,  surpassing  all  that  had  ever  been  done  in  that 
way.     The  following,  for  example,  is  one  of  his  magical  squares  : 


5S 

64 

i 

43 

SO 

29 

36 

45 

44. 

3 

6^ 

54 

46 

35 

30 

49 

53 

60 

5 

4S 

S4 

S§ 

37 

44 

// 

6 

59 

54 

43 

3i 

S7 

22 

55 

5i 

7 

40 

S3 

26 

39 

42 

9 

i 

57 

56 

44 

40 

25 

24 

50 

63 

S 

45 

4^ 

34 

34 

47 

a 

/ 

6. 

49 

4i 

33 

32 

47 

This  square,  as  explained  by  its  contriver,  contains  astonishing 
properties:  every  straight  row  (horizontal  or  vertical)  added  to- 
gether makes  260,  and  each  half  row  half  200.  The  bent  row  of 
eight  numbers  ascending  and  descending  diagonally,  viz.,  from  16 
ascending  to  10,  and  from  23  descending  to  17,  and  every  one  of  its 
parallel  bent  rows  of  eight  numbers,  makes  260.     Also,  the  bent  row 


256  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1743. 

from  52  descending  to  54,  and  from  43  ascending  to  45,  and  every 
one  of  its  parallel  bent  rows  of  eight  numbers,  makes  260.  Also,  the 
bent  row  from  45  to  43,  descending  to  the  left,  and  from  23  to  17, 
descending  to  the  right,  and  every  one  of  its  parallel  bent  rows  of 
eight  numbers,  makes  260.  Also,  the  bent  row  from  52  to  54,  de- 
scending to  the  right,  and  from  10  to  16,  descending  to  the  left,  and 
every  one  of  its  parallel  bent  rows  of  eight  numbers,  makes  260. 
Also,  the  parallel  bent  rows  next  to  the  above-mentioned,  which  are 
shortened  to  three  numbers  ascending  and  three  descending,  &c., 
as  from  53  to  4  ascending,  and  from  29  to  44  descending,  make, 
with  the  two  corner  numbers,  260.  Also,  the  two  numbers,  14,  61, 
ascending,  and  36,  19,  descending,  with  the  lower  four  numbers 
situated  like  them,  viz.  50,  1,  descending,  and  32,  47,  ascending, 
make  260.  And,  lastly,  the  four  corner  numbers,  with  the  four 
middle  numbers,  make  260. 

But  even  these  are  not  all  the  properties  of  this  marvelous  square. 
Its  contriver  declared  that  it  has  "  five  other  curious  ones,"  which 
he  does  not  explain ;  but  which  the  ingenious  reader  may  discover 
if  he  can.  Nor  was  this  the  most  wonderful  of  Franklin's  magical 
squares.  He  made  one  of  16  cells  in  each  row,  which  besides  pos- 
sessing the  properties  of  the  square  given  above  (the  amount, 
however  added,  being  always  2056),  had  also  this  most  remarkable 
peculiarity :  a  square  hole  being  cut  in  a  piece  of  paper  of  such  a 
size  as  to  take  in  and  show  through  it  just  sixteen  of  the  little 
squares,  when  laid  on  the  greater  square,  the  sum  of  the  sixteen 
numbers,  so  appearing  through  the  hole,  wherever  it  was  placed  on 
the  greater  square,  should  likewise  make  2056. 

This  square  was  executed  in  a  single  evening.  It  excited  the 
boundless  wonder  of  Mr.  Logan,  to  whom  Franklin  sent  it,  and  who 
styled  it  a  "  most  stupendous  piece."  Franklin  himself  jocularly 
said  it  was  the  "most"  magically  magical  of  any  magic  square  ever 
made  by  any  magician."  Mr.  Logan  alludes  to  these  squares  in  one 
of  his  letters  to  Peter  Collinson  of  London  :  "  Our  Benjamin  Franklin 
is  certainly  an  extraordinary  man,  one  of  a  singular  good  judgment, 
but  of  equal  modesty.  He  is  clerk  of  our  Assembly,  and  there,  for 
want  of  other  employment,  while  he  sat  idle,  he  took  it  into  his  head 
to  think  of  magical  squares,  in  which  he  outdid  Frenicle  himself,  who 
published  above  eighty  pages  in  folio  on  that  subject  alone."  * 

*  Sparks,  vi.,  100.    Where  other  specimenB  of  Franklin's  magical  squares  may  be  found. 


AGED    34.]     THE   THRIVING   AND   PUBLIC-SPIEITED    CITIZEN.  257 


zoo 

217 

233 

2A9 

S 

3S 

iO       J& 

\ 

89 

±Oi 

13X 

136 

153 

168 

lai 

C8 

3'J 

2G 

9 

QSO 

231 

2^ 

V 

\ 

154. 

X3S 

133 

U03 

90 

.1 

.198 

219 

230 

2SX 

e 

/ 

/ 

/ 

\ 

\ 

Jj02 

X23 

134. 

155 

166 

137 

GO 

37 

2S 

S 

y 

2P9 

/ 

/ 

\ 

\ 

V 

\ 

X2i 

lOX 

93 

69 

SOL 

210 

233 

y 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

\ 

\ 

H 

\ 

\ 

152 

169 

1S4: 

SS 

^U2 

/ 

/ 

/' 

2si 

/ 

24 

\ 

\ 

\ 

i^^    \i0 

87 

64. 

- 

y 

23i 

2^ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

183 

K 

/ 

./ 

y 

2t3 

20ir 

\ 

H 

H 

\ 

\ 

^«* 

\ 

\ 

/ 

./ 

2/7 

./ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

V 

/ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

2/3 

y 

/' 

20c 

X79 

^4 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

/ 

/ 

y 

/ 

/ 

/ 

47 

SO 

79 

82 

\ 

\ 

H 

H 

\ 

\ 

/ 

y 

/ 

/ 

y 

3AO 

209 

20S 

±77 

X70 

14.5 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

\ 

Xffe 

y. 

2/a 

/ 

i 

29 

33 

OL 

68 

93 

xoo 

125 

\ 

\ 

H 

\ 

/ 

/ 

/ 

3 

254. 

237 

233 

X9S 

190 

XG3 

X58 

X3X 

136 

\ 

\ 

\ 

/ 

23f3 

220 

35X 

S 

3X 

3X 

03 

GO 

95 

98 

X37 

130 

159 

H 

\ 

/. 

33 

33 

1. 

sse 

32S 

33i 

X93 

192 

101 

XGO 

139 

„, 

128 

9Y 

06 

\ 

CHAPTER  Vn. 

THE   THRIVING   AND   PUBLIC-SPIRITED    CITIZEN. 

It  does  a  good  man  good  to  prosper  in  his  business.  It  expands, 
cheers,  softens,  frees,  and  humbles  him.  Inherited  wealth  is  a 
doubtful  good.  To  convert  it  into  a  blessing  requires  in  the  recij)- 
ient  uncommon  virtue  and  good  sense  :  it  generally  proves  too  much 
for  the  weakness  of  human  nature,  and  prevents  a  man  from  becoiu- 


258  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1744. 

ing  a  serviceable  citizen.  But  the  moderate,  gradual,  and  safe 
prosperity  which  results  from  the  skillful,  thoughtful,  and  diligent 
prosecution  of  a  legitimate  business  or  trade,  is  a  vast  and  lasting 
benefit,  and  bestows  upon  its  possessor  the  means  of  noble 
gratifications. 

Franklin  still  prospered.  His  Gazette  became  the  leading  news- 
paper of  all  the  region  between  New  York  and  Charleston.  Poor 
Richard  continued  to  amuse  the  whole  country,  to  the  great  profit 
of  its  printer,  who  was  obliged  to  put  it  to  press  early  in  October, 
in  order  to  get  a  supply  of  copies  to  the  remote  colonies  by  the 
beginning  of  the  new  year.  All  the  best  jobs  of  printing  given  out 
by  the  provinces  of  New  Jersey,  Maryland,  Pennsylvania,  and 
Deleware,  fell  to  the  ofiice  of  Franklin;  who,  by  means  of  his 
partnerships,  had  a  share  also  in  the  good  things  of  Virginia,  New 
York,  the  Carolinas,  and  Georgia.  His  school-books,  his  hand-books 
of  farriery,  agriculture,  and  medicine,  his  numberless  small  pamphlets, 
his  considerable  importations  from  England,  all  contributed  to  swell 
his  gains.  The  great  number  of  German  emigrants  gave  new  im- 
portance every  summer  to  his  German  printing  office.  His  two 
places  of  postmaster  and  clerk  to  the  Assembly  brought  in  a  little 
money  and  much  profitable  work.  He  had  a  small  and  inexpensive 
family,  an  industrious  and  saving  wife ;  and  his  own  habits  were  such 
as  enable  a  man  to  get  out  of  life  the  maximum  of  enjoyment  with  the 
minimum  of  expenditure.  His  luxuries  were  a  book,  a  long  bathe 
in  the  river,  the  Junto,  music,  conversation,  minute  observations  of 
nature,  and  rural  excursions.  He  lived,  moreover,  in  a  place  which 
in  the  course  of  his  business  career  became  the  chief  town  of  the 
colonies. 

Did  he  become  a  millionaire,  then  ?  By  no  means.  There  was, 
I  believe,  but  one  fortune  of  a  million  dollars  made  in  the  thirteen 
colonies.  Franklin  was  in  a  way  to  acquire,  ia  time,  a  modest  com- 
petence :  for,  in  the  colonies,  the  gains  of  business  were  moderate, 
even  when  conducted  with  the  tact,  the  energy,  and  the  prudence 
of  a  Franklin.  Probably  his  business,  in  the  most  prosperous  years, 
did  not  yield  a  profit  of  more  than  two  thousand  pounds  sterling. 
But  there  was  not,  probably,  another  printer  in  the  colonies  whose 
annual  profits  exceeded  five  hundred  pounds. 

As  he  throve  in  business,  he  grew  in  the  esteem  of  his  towns- 
men, and  began  to  take  the  lead  in  their  affairs.     He  tried  first  to 


AGED    38.]      THE  THKIVING   AKD   PUBLIC-SPIRITED   CITIZEN.  259 

reform,  the  city  watch,  which  was  conducted  on  the  ancient  British 
system,  which  Shakspeare  burlesqued  in  the  Dogberry  scenes  of 
"Much  Ado  about  Nothing."  Franklin's  account  of  the  old  Phila- 
delphia watch,  is  valuable  for  the  light  it  throws  upon  those  very 
scenes.  "It  was  managed,  "he  says,  "by  the  constables  of  the 
respective  wards  in  turn;  the  constable  summoned  a  number  of 
housekeepers  to  attend  him  for  the  night.  Those  who  chose  never 
to  attend,  paid  him  six  shilhngs  a  year  to  be  excused,  which  was 
supposed  to  go  to  hiring  substitutes,  but  was,  in  reality,  more  than 
was  necessary  for  that  purpose,  and  made  the  constableship  a  place 
of  profit ;  and  the  constable,  for  a  little  drink,  often  got  such  raga- 
muffins about  him  as  a  Avatch  that  respectable  housekeepers  did  not 
choose  to  mix  with.  Walking  the  rounds,  too,  was  often  neglected, 
and  most  of  the  nights  were  spent  in  tippHng." 

To  reform  this  absurd  system,  Franklin  proceeded  in  his  usual 
way ;  first  reading  an  article  on  the  subject  to  the  Junto,  then  com- 
municating the  plan  of  reform  to  the  clubs  in  correspondence  with 
the  Junto,  and  finally  treating  the  subject  in  the  Gazette.  It  re- 
quired some  years  of  agitation,  however,  to  get  Dogberry  sup- 
pressed, and  his  band  of  ragamuffins  dispersed. 

In  the  same  way  FrankUn  founded  the  flourishing  fire  system  of 
Philadelphia.  When  he  was  a  boy  of  eleven,  cutting  his  father's 
candle-wicks,  the  first  fire  company  of  Boston  was  formed  :*  an  event 
not  likely  to  be  overlooked  by  a  young  candle-maker  of  Franklin's 
metal.  By  the  Junto's  aid,  he  now  formed  the  Union  Fire  Com- 
pany, the  first  of  the  kind  in  Philadelphia,  of  which  he  was  himself 
a  member  for  fifty  years.  Their  first  articles  of  agreement  bound 
each  member  to  keep  in  good  order  a  certain  number  of  leathern 
buckets,  and  strong  baskets  and  bags  for  transporting  goods, 
which  were  to  be  brought  to  every  fire.  In  accordance  with  the 
social  habits  of  that  age,  they  agreed  to  spend  an  evening  together 
once  a  month,  and  "  communicate  such  ideas  as  occurred  to  us 
upon  the  subject  of  fires."  In  course  of  years  the  fines  exacted  for 
non-attendance  provided  the  Union  Fire  Company  with  a  complete 
apparatus  of  engines,  hooks  and  ladders. 

It  was,  indeed,  a  very  social  age.  Any  thing  served  as  a  pretext 
for  the  assembling  together  of  men  for  conversation,  jollity,  and 

*  Drake's  History  of  Boston,  p.  557. 


260  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FUANKLIN.  [1744. 

good  cheer.  JSTo  man  ever  enjoyed  these  jovial  gatherings  more 
heartily  than  FrankHu,  and  he  was  always  ready  to  do  his  part 
with  jest,  anecdote,  and  song.  Three  songs  that  he  used  to  sing 
are  known  to  us.  One  was  the  "  The  Old  Man's  "Wish,"  which  he 
says  he  sang  "  a  thousand  times"  in  his  singing  days.  In  separate 
stanzas  of  this  song,  the  Old  Man  wishes  for  a  warm  house  in  a 
country  town,  an  easy  horse,  some  good  books,  ingenious  and 
cheerful  companions,  a  pudding  on  Sundays,  with  stout  ale,  and  a 
bottle  of  Burgundy  ;  each  stanza  ending  thus : 

"  May  I  govern  my  passions  with  absolute  sway, 
Grow  wiser  and  better  as  my  strength  wears  away, 
Without  gout  or  stone,  by  gentle  decay  !" 

The  old  man  concludes  his  song  with  these  lines : 

"  With  a  courage  undaunted  may  I  face  the  last  day, 
And  when  I  am  gone  may  the  better  sort  say — 
In  the  morning  when  sober,  in  the  evening  when  mellow, 
He's  gone,  and  has  not  left  behind  him  his  fellow. 

For  he  governed  his  passions,"  etc. 

Another  of  his  songs  was  "My  Plain  Country  Joan,"  a  long 
ditty,  written  by  himself  in  praise  of  his  own  wife.  One  evening, 
we  are  told,  when  a  number  of  Franklin's  convivial  friends  were 
assembled,  and  many  songs  had  been  sung,  some  one  declared  that 
married  men  ought  not  to  be  allowed  to  sing  songs  written  to  cel- 
ebrate the  sweethearts  of  the  poets.  The  next  morning,  while  one 
of  the  company.  Dr.  Bard  (afterwards  the  physician  of  Washing- 
ton), was  seated  at  breakfast,  he  received  from  Franklin  "  My  Plain 
Country  Joan."* 

"  Of  their  Chloes  and  Phyllises  poets  may  prate, 
I  sing  my  plain  country  Joan, 
These  twelve  years  my  wife,  still  the  joy  of  my  life, 
Blest  day  that  I  made  her  my  own. 

"  Not  a  word  of  her  face,  of  her  shape,  or  her  air, 
Or  of  flames,  or  of  darts,  you  shall  hear; 

*  Lifo  of  Samuel  Bard,  by  Kcv.  S.  McVickar,  p.  la 


AGED   38.]      THE  THRIVUfG   AND   PTJBLIC-SPrRITED   CITIZEN.  261 

I  beauty  admire,  but  virtue  I  prize, 
That  fades  not  in  seventy  year. 

"  Am  I  loaded  with  care,  she  takes  off  a  large  share, 
That  the  burden  ne'er  makes  me  to  reel  ; 
Does  good  fortune  arrive,  the  joy  of  my  wife 
Quite  doubles  the  pleasure  I  feel. 

"  She  defends  my  good  name,  even  when  I'm  to  blame, 
Firm  friend  as  to  man  e'er  was  given  ; 
Her  compassionate  breast  feels  for  all  the  distressed, 
Which  draws  down  more  blessings  from  heaven." 

And  so,  in  a  similar  strain,  for  several  stanzas  more.  This  homely 
song  appears  to  have  been  known  beyond  Franklin's  own  circle,  for 
one  of  his  relations  wrote,  many  years  after,  to  Mrs.  Franklin  : 
"  My  uncle's  writing  in  praise  of  his  lovely  Joan  has  made  him  the 
spiritual  father  of  many  children  born  in  honest  wedlock."* 

Another  song,  written  by  Franklin  in  these  jolly  Junto  days,  and 
often  sung  by  him  at  the  Junto  room,  the  entire  club  joining  in  the 
chorus,  is  in  a  different  strain.  To  the  innocent  it  is  innocent 
enough. 

"  Fair  Venus  calls ;   her  voice  obey. 
In  beauty's  arms  spend  night  and  day. 
The  joys  of  love  all  joys  excel, 
And  loving's  certainly  doing  well. 
Chorus. 
Oh!  no! 
Not  so ! 

For  honest  souls  know, 
Friends  and  a  bottle  still  bear  the  bell. 

"  Then  let  us  get  money,  like  bees  lay  up  honey  ; 
We'll  build  us  new  hives,  and  store  each  cell. 
-  The  sight  of  our  treasure  shall  yield  us  great  pleasure ; 
We'll  count  it,  and  chink  it,  and  jingle  it  well. 
Chortcs.     Oh  !  no !  etc. 

Lettore  to  Beiyamin  Franklin,  p.  184. 


262  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [1744. 

"  If  this  does  not  fit  ye,  let's  govern  the  city, 
In  power  is  pleasure  no  tongue  can  tell ; 
By  crowds  though  you're  teased,  your  pride  shall  be  pleased, 
And  this  can  make  Lucifer  happy  in  hell ! 
Chorus.     Oh!  no!  etc. 

"  Then  toss  off  your  glasses,  and  scorn  the  dull  asses, 
Who,  missing  the  kernel,  still  gnaw  the  shell; 
What's  love,  rule  or  riches  ?  Wise  Solomon  teaches, 
They're  vanity,  vanity,  vanity  still." 

Chorus. 

That's  true ; 

He  knew ; 

He'd  tried  them  all  through ; 

Friends  and  a  bottle  still  bore  the  bell." 

It  is  well  for  us,  in  these  days,  to  consider  the  spectacle  of  this 
large,  robust  soul  sporting  in  this  simple,  homely  way.  Perhaps 
some  of  us  need  to  be  reminded,  that  in  order  not  to  be  a  sot  it  is 
not  necessary  to  be  a  bigot,  and  that  it  is  possible  to  be  virtuous 
without  making  virtue  odious  by  a  grim  and  terrible  decorum. 
This  superb  Franklin  of  ours,  who  spent  some  evenings  in  mere  jol- 
lity, passed  nearly  all  his  days  in  labor  most  fruitful  of  benefit  to 
his  country. 

Theodore  Parker  wrote,  in  his  forty-seventh  year :  "  I  have  grown 
very  old  within  the  last  three  years ;  too  much  work  and  too  many 
cares  have  done  this  for  me.  *  *  If  I  had  at  twenty-five  joined 
some  club  of  good  fellows,  and  met  with  them  to  talk,  laugh, 
dance,  bowl,  or  play  billiards  once  a  fortnight  ever  since,  I  should 
be  a  wiser  and  a  happier  man.  But  let  me  mend  for  the  future."* 
Alas !  he  did  not  mend.     Else,  he  had  not  left  us  at  the  moment 

.when  we  needed  him  most. 

'  Continuing  the  record  of  his  public-spirited  labors,  we  come  to 
his  proposal,  in  May,  1743,  of  an  American  Philosophical  Society. 
He  wrote  a  circular  letter  to  his  learned  friends  in  Pennsylvania, 
New  Jersey,  Delaware,  New  York,  and  New  England,  suggesting 

*  Life  and  Correspondence  of  Theodore  Parker,  by  John  Weiss,  i.,  330. 


AGED    38.]    THU  THEIVING   AND   PUBLIC-SPIRITED    CITIZEX.  263 

that  they  form  themselves  into  a  society,  for  the  purpose  of  con- 
versino-  and  corresponding  upon  such  subjects  as  the  following : 
Newly  discovered  plants,  herbs,  trees,  roots,  their  virtues,  uses, 
methods  of  propagating  them,  and  making  such  as  are  useful,  but 
particular  to  some  plantations,  more  general  ;  improvements  of  ve- 
getable juices,  as  ciders,  wines  ;  new  methods  of  curing  or  prevent- 
ing diseases  ;  all  new-discovered  fossils  in  different  countries,  as 
mines,  minerals,  and  quarries  ;  new  and  useful  improvements  in 
any  branch  of  mathematics ;  new  discoveries  in  chemistry,  such  as 
improvements  in  distillation,  brewing,  and  assaying  of  ores ;  new 
mechanical  inventions  for  saving  labor,  as  mills  and  carriages,  and 
for  raising  and  conveying  of  water,  draining  of  meadows ;  all  new 
arts,  trades,  and  manufactures,  that  may  be  proposed  or  thought 
of;  surveys,  maps,  and  charts  of  particular  parts  of  the  sea-coasts 
or  inland  countries  ;  course  and  junction  of  rivers  and  great  roads, 
situation  of  lakes  and  moimtains,  nature  of  the  soil  and  productions : 
new  methods  of  improving  the  breed  of  useful  animals  ;  introdu- 
cing other  sorts  from  foreign  countries ;  new  improvements  in  plant- 
ing, gardening,  and  clearing  land;  and  all  philosophical  experi-  , 
ments  that  let  light  into  the  nature  of  things,  tend  to  increase  the 
power  of  man  over  matter,  and  multiply  the  conveniences  or  plea- 
sures of  life." 

He  concluded  his  circular  with  these  words  •  "Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, the  writer  of  this  Proposal,  offers  himsehF  to  serve  the  Society 
as  their  secretary,  till  they  shall  be  provided  with  one  more  capa- 
ble." 

The  Society  was  formed,  and  continued  in  existence  for  some 
years.  Nevertheless,  its  success  was  neither  great  nor  permanent, 
for,  at  that  day,  the  circle  of  men  capable  of  taking  much  interest 
in  science,  was  too  limited  for  the  proper  support  of  such  an  organi- 
zation. And  a  great  part  of  what  intellectual  culture  there  was  in 
the  colonies  was  diverted  from  the  study  of  nature. 

From  1740  to  the  close  of  1748,  several  of  the  great  powers  of 
Europe  were  at  war;  France  and  Spain,  against  England,  Hol- 
land and  Hungary ;  of  which  one  incident  was  the  descent  of  the 
Pretender  upon  Scotland  in  1 745,  and  another,  the  gallant  capture 
by  New  England  of  Louisburg,  a  strong  fortress  in  the  island  of 
Cape  Breton.  Until  1744,  the  colonies  do  not  appear  to  have  felt 
much  alarm,  but,  from  that  time  to  the  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle  in 


264  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMm   FEANKLIN.  [l745. 

1748,  they  were  always  in  apprehension,  and  making  vigorous  pre- 
parations both  to  defend  and  to  assail.  The  splendid  liberality  of 
Massachusetts  in  fitting  out  the  expedition  against  Louisburg,  and 
the  promptness  with  which  it  moved,  show  us  that  the  Massachu- 
setts of  1745  differed  from  the  Massachusetts  of  1861  in  the  number, 
not  in  the  quality,  of  its  inhabitants.  The  Southern  colonies,  too, 
made  a  show  of  preparation.  The  Southern  colonists,  from  the  be- 
ginning, affected  a  fondness  for  the  profession  of  arms.  A  writer 
of  1740  says:  "Wherever  you  travel  in  Maryland,  Virginia,  or 
Carolina,  you  are  astonished  at  the  number  of  colonels,  majors,  and 
captains.     The  whole  country,  seems,  at  first,  a  retreat  of  heroes."* 

Pennsylvania  alone  was  utterly  defenseless.  The  banks  of  the 
Delaware  had  not  a  fort,  not  a  battery,  not  a  gun ;  and  Philadel- 
phia lay  a  tempting  prize  that  even  a  well-armed  privateer  could 
seize  and  sack.  There  was  not  so  much  as  a  volunteer  company,  if 
there  were  muskets  enough  to  arm  one.  John  Penn  and  Thomas. 
Penn,  the  proprietors  of  the  province,  were  not  Quakers,  as  their 
father  had  been,  and  the  governors  who  ruled  in  their  stead  were 
not  Quakers  ;  yet,  in  the  legislative  assembly,  the  Quaker  influence 
so  greatly  preponderated,  that  nothing  could  induce  that  body  to 
vote  money  for  the  purchase  of  the  means  of  defense.  Not  the 
actual  presence  of  a  privateer  in  the  river  could  move  them  ;  with 
such  tenacity  do  we  cling  to  eccentric  beliefs. 

The  Philadelphians,  however,  watched  the  warlike  proceedings 
of  the  New  Englanders  with  intense  interest.  Franklin  seems  for 
a  time  to  have  felt  no  great  alarm.  In  a  letter  which  he  wrote  to 
his  brother  John,  after  the  Cape  Breton  expedition  had  sailed,  he 
treats  the  affair  in  a  jocular  manner.  "  Our  people,"  he  wrote, 
*'  are  extremely  impatient  to  hear  of  your  success  at  Cape  Breton. 
My  shop  is  filled  with  thirty  inquiries  at  the  coming  in  of  every 
post.  Some  wonder  the  place  is  not  yet  taken.  I  tell  them  I  shall 
be  glad  to  hear  that  news  three  months  hence.  Fortified  towns  are 
hard  nuts  to  crack ;  and  your  teeth  have  not  been  accustomed  to  it. 
•3f  *  *  Yqjj  jj^yg  ^  f^g^  ^^^  prayer  day  for  that  purpose  ;  in  which  I 
compute  five  hundred  thousand  petitions  were  offered  up  to  the  same 
effect  in  New  England,  which  added  to  the  petitions  of  every 
family,  morning  and  evening,  multiplied  by  the  number  of  days 

*  "Sketches  in  America  in  1740."    Literary  Magazine,  Philadelphia,  December,  1S06. 


AGED  39.]  THE    THEIYING   AND   PUBLIC-SPIRITED    CITIZEN.  265 

since  January  25th,  make  forty-five  millions  of  prayers  ;  which,  set 
against  the  prayers  of  a  few  priests  in  the  garrison  to  the  Virgin 
Mary,  give  a  vast  balance  in  your  favor.  If  you  do  not  succeed,  I 
fear  I  shall  have  but  an  indifferent  opinion  of  Presbyterian  prayers 
in  such  cases,  as  long  as  I  live.  Indeed,  in  attacking  strong  towns 
I  should  have  more  dependence  on  worJcs^  than  on  faith  ;  for,  like 
the  kingdom  of  heaven,  they  are  to  be  taken  by  force  and  violence  ; 
and  in  a  French  garrison,  I  suppose,  there  are  devils  of  that  kind, 
that  they  are  not  to  be  cast  out  by  prayers  and  fasting,  unless  it  be 
by  their  own  fasting  for  want  of  provisions." 

But  in  1746,  Franklin  visited  Boston ;  a  memorable  event  in  the 
history  of  science,  as  we  shall  see  ere  long.  All  that  year  pugna- 
cious little  Boston  was  in  a  military  ferment,  frequently  expecting  an 
attack  from  the  enemy's  fleet,  and  constantly  preparing  to  resist.  The 
gloiy  of  the  Cape  Breton  expedition  still  shone  in  the  countenances 
of  the  people,  and  their  very  Sundays  were  noisy  with  the  tread  of 
armed  men,  and  the  trundle  of  guns.  Franklin  caught  their  spirit, 
and  bacame  seriously  alarmed  for  the  safety  of  Philadelphia.  On 
his  return  home,  finding  it  still  impossible  to  move  the  Assembly, 
lie  resolved  to  attempt  the  defense  of  the  city  by  the  voluntary 
labors  of  the  people. 

He  wrote  a  consummately  artful  pamphlet  of  twenty-two  pages, 
called  "  Plain  Truth,"  in  which  he  employed  every  argument  that 
could  have  weight  with  any  class  of  the  inhabitants.  He  appealed 
to  their  pride  as  Britons,  and  to  their  interests  as  Pennsylvanians. 
He  dwelt  upon  the  example  of  the  other  colonies.  For  the  non- 
resistent  Quakers,  he  inserted  a  biblical  argument  to  show  the 
rightfulness  of  defensive  war.  He  enlarged  upon  the  wealth  of 
Philadelphia,  and  showed  how  probable  it  was  that  the  enemy 
would  discover  its  defenseless  state,  and  what  an  easy  capture  it 
would  be.  The  power  of  the  great  Indian  tribes,  and  the  influence 
of  the  French  over  some  of  them,  furnished  him  with  powerful 
arguments.  He  pointed  out  the  ruin  that  would  come  upon  the 
trade  of  the  province  if  ships  of  the  enemy  should  even  obstruct  the 
navigation  of  the  river.  The  party  divisions  of  the  province,  the 
proprietary  party,  the  Quakers,  the  gentlemen,  the  tradesmen,  all 
the  attachments  and  all  the  antipathies  of  the  town,  were  skillfully 
referred  to  and  turned  to  account.  And  lest  any  class  should 
escape  him,  he  inserted  one  tremendous  passage  that  appealed  to  a 
12 


266  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1747. 

feeling  that  was  universal— /e«r.  The  passage  shows  the  frightful 
cruelty  with  which  war  was  formerly  carried  on. 

"  On  the  first  alarm,  terror  will  spread  over  all ;  and,  as  no  man 
can  with  certainty  depend  that  another  will  stand  by  him,  beyond 
doubt  very  many  will  seek  safety  by  a  speedy  flight.  Those  that 
are  reputed  rich,  will  flee,  through  fear  of  torture,  to  make  them 
])roduce  more  than  they  are  able.  The  man  that  has  a  wife  and 
children  will  find  them  hanging  on  his  neck,  beseeching  him  with 
tears  to  quit  the  city  and  save  his  life,  to  guide  and  protect  them 
in  that  time  of  general  desolation  and  ruin.  All  will  run  into  con- 
fusion, amidst  cries  and  lamentations,  and  the  hurry  and  disorder 
of  departers,  carrying  away  their  efiects.  The  few  that  remain 
will  be  unable  to  resist.  Sacking  the  city  will  be  the  first,  and 
burning  it,  in  all  probability,  the  last  act  of  the  enemy.  This,  I 
believe,  will  be  the  case,  if  you  have  timely  notice.  But  what  must 
be  your  condition,  if  suddenly  surprised,  without  previous  alarm, 
perhaps  in  the  night !  Confined  to  your  houses,  you  will  have 
nothing  to  trust  to  but  the  enemy's  mercy.  Your  best  fortune  will 
be,  to  fall  under  the  power  of  commanders  of  kings'  ships,  able  to 
control  the  mariners,  and  not  into  the  hands  of  licentious  privateers. 
Who  can,  without  the  utmost  horror,  conceive  the  miseries  of  the 
latter,  when  your  persons,  fortunes,  wives,  and  daughters  shall  be 
subject  to  the  wanton  and  unbridled  rage,  rapine,  and  lust  of 
negroes,  mulattoes,  and  others,  the  vilest  and  most  abandoned  of 
mankind.  A  dreadful  scene!  which  some  may  represent  as  ex- 
aggerated. I  think  it  my  duty  to  warn  you ;  judge  for  your- 
selves." 

The  eflect  of  this  pamphlet  was  all  that  Franklin  could  have 
wished.  A  few  days  after  its  appearance,  he  called  a  meeting  of 
the  citizens  in  the  large  building  that  had  been  erected  during  the 
visit  of  Whitefield.  He  harangued  the  multitude,  urged  them  to 
form  themselves  into  an  Association  for  Defense,  and  invited  all  pres- 
ent to  enroll  themselves,  that  very  night,  by  signing  the  papers 
which  he  had  previously  placed  about  the  room.  Twelve  hundred 
names  were  immediately  subscribed  ;  ten  thousand  in  a  few  days ; 
and,  before  many  days  had  passed,  nearly  every  man  in  the  province 
who  was  not  a  Quaker,  had  joined  a  military  organization,  had 
procured  some  kind  of  weapon,  and  was  learning  the  exercise. 
Eighty  companies  were  soon  ready  to  march  to  any  threatened 


AGED  41.]        THE   THKIYING    AND    PUBLIC-SPIRITED    CITIZEN.  267 

point.  In  Philadelphia,  the  companies  united  to  form  a  regiment, 
and  elected  Franklin  their  colonel.  "  Conceiving  myself  unfit,"  he 
says,  "  I  declined  that  station,  and  recommended  Mr.  Lawrence,  a 
fine  person  and  a  man  of  influence,  who  was  accordingly  appointed." 
The  ladies  were  busy  in  providing  silk  colors  for  the  various  corps, 
Franklin  inventing  the  devices.  A  system  of  signals  and  alarms 
was  established  all  over  the  province. 

But,  as  yet,  there  was  not  a  serviceable  cannon  in  all  Pennsylvania, 
and,  I  believe,  never  had  been.  To  procure  a  battery  for  the  defense 
of  the  town  against  ascending  vessels,  Franklin  proposed  a  lottery, 
the  usual  expedient  for  raising  money  at  that  time.  The  lottery  was 
successful.  A  battery  of  logs  and  earth  was  thrown  up  below  the 
town,  and  some  old  cannon,  bought  at  Boston,  were  mounted  upon 
it.  More  cannon  were  sent  for  from  London,  but  before  these  could 
arrive,  all  might  be  lost ;  and  so  Colonel  Lawrence,  Benjamin  Frank- 
lin, and  two  others  were  sent  to  New  York  to  borrow  cannon  of  Gov. 
Clinton.     "  He,  at  first,"  says  Franklin,  "  refused  us  peremptorily  ; 

\  but  at  a  dinner  with  his  council,  where  there  was  great  drinking  of 
Jkjadeira  wine,  as  the  custom  of  that  place  then  was,  he  softened  by 
degrees,  and  said  he  would  lend  us  six.  After  a  few  more  bumpers 
he  advanced  to  ten  ;  and  at  length  he  very  good-naturedly  conceded 
eighteen.  They  were  fine  cannon,  18-pounders,  with  their  carriages, 
w^hich  were  soon  transported  and  mounted  on  our  batteries,  where 
the  associators  kept  a  nightly  guard  while  the  war  lasted ;  and 
among  the\  rest,  I  regularly  took  my  turn  of  duty  there  as  a  com- 
mon soldief." 

To  give  the  clergy  an  opportunity  to  bring  their  influence  to  bear 
upon  the  minds  of  the  people,  he  induced  the  Governor  and  Council 
to  appoint  a  fast  day.  Franklin  himself  drew  up  the  proclamation 
in  th&  form  to  which  he  had  been  accustomed  in  New  England. 

— ^^hese  warlike  events  could  not  fail  in  the  province  of  Pennsylvania 
to  excite  opposition.  "  Plain  Truth  "  called  forth  a  reply,  entitled 
"  Necessary  Truth,"  and  that,  in  turn,  elicited  sermons  and  disserta- 
tions in  support  of  the  defensive  measures.  The  pamphlets  that  ap- 
peared in  consequence  of  the  publication  of  "  Plain  Truth"  form  a 
considerable  volume,  which  is  the  larger  because  the  more  import- 
ant essays  were  published  both  in  English  and  German.  All  the 
pamphlets  in  favor  of  defense  were  printed  by  Franklin  at  his  own 
expense.     The  Rev.    Gilbert  Tennent,  a  renov^^ncd  Presbyterian 


268  LIFE  AND  TIMES  OF  BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.       [I'^'^V. 

minister  of  that  day,  was  a  sturdy  champion  of  the  defensive  meas- 
ures, and  published  three  sermons  in  support  of  them. 

Some  of  Franklin's  friends  feared  that  his  warlike  zeal  would 
destroy  his  influence  in  the  Assembly,  wherein  the  Quaker  influ- 
ence was  supreme.  One  young  man,  who  had  his  eye  upon  the 
clerkship,  went  so  far  as  to  advise  him  to  resign  in  order  to  avoid 
the  disgrace  of  being  dismissed.  Franklin  told  him,  in  reply,  that 
he  had  heard  of  a  public  man  who  made  it  a  rule  never  to  seek  and 
never  to  decline  office.  "  I,"  said  Franklin,  "  approve  of  this  rule, 
and  shall  practice  it  with  a  smnll  addition :  I  shall  never  ask,  never 
refuse,  and  never  resign  an  office."  At  the  next  election,  he  was 
again  chosen  clerk  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

The  truth  was,  that  most  of  the  young  Quakers,  and  many  of 
their  elders,  secretly  rejoiced  in  the  preparations  for  defense.  In 
proof  of  this,  Franklin  relates  an  amusing  anecdote.  It  was  pro- 
posed in  the  Union  Fire  Company,  which  consisted  of  twenty-two 
Quakers  and  eight  of  other  persuasions,  that  the  sixty  pounds  in 
tlieir  treasury  should  be  expended  in  buying  tickets  in  the  lottery 
for  the  purchase  of  cannon.  By  the  rules,  no  money  could  be  ex- 
pended until  the  next  meeting  after  the  proposal  had  been  made. 
"The  eight,"  says  Franklin,  "punctually  attended  the  meeting. 
Only  one  Quaker,  Mr.  James  Morris,  appeared  to  oppose  the  meas- 
^j.g^  *  *  *  While  we  were  disputing,  a  waiter  came  to  tell  me, 
that  two  gentlemen  below  desired  to  speak  with  me.  I  went  down, 
and  found  there  two  of  our  Quaker  members.  They  told  me,  there 
were  eight  of  them  assembled  at  a  tavern  just  by ;  that  they  were 
determined  to  come  and  vote  with  us  if  there  should  be  occasion, 
which  they  hoped  would  not  be  the  case,  and  desired  we  would  not 
call  their  assistance,  if  we  could  do  without  it ;  as  their  voting  for 
such  a  measure  might  embroil  them  with  their  elders  and  friends. 
Being  thus  secure  of  a  majority,  I  went  up,  and,  after  a  little  seem- 
ing hesitation,  agreed  to  a  delay  of  another  hour.  This  Mr.  Morris 
allowed  to  be  extremely  fair.  Not  one  of  his  opposing  friends 
appeared,  at  which  he  expressed  great  surprise ;  and,  at  the  expira- 
tion of  the  hour,  we  carried  the  resolution  eight  to  one." 

If  this  resolution  had  failed,  Franklin  was  ready  with  another 
expedient.  "If  we  fail,"  he  said,  to  one  of  the  eight,  "let  us 
move  the  purchase  of  a  fire  engine  with  the  money ;  the  Quakers 
can  have  no  objection  to  that :  and  then  if  you  nominate  me  and  I 


AGED  41.]       THE   THEIVING   AND   PUBLIC-SPIRITED    CITIZEN.  269 

you  as  a  committee  for  that  purpose,  we  will  buy  a  great  gun, 
which  is  certainly  2ifire  engine^ 

Mr.  James  Logan,  who  was  a  Quaker,  but  in  favor  of  defensive 
war,  told  Franklin  an  anecdote  which  shows  that  William  Penn 
was  not  averse  to  defense  while  danger  was  imminent.  Logan 
came  over  with  William  Penn  as  his  private  secretary.  The  ship 
being  chased  by  an  armed  vessel,  the  captain  and  crew  prepared  to 
defend  themselves.  All  the  Quakers  went  below  except  Logan, 
who  being  more  a  man  than  a  Quaker,  stood  at  one  of  the  guns 
to  aid  in  beating  off  the  foe.  The  armed  ship,  however,  proved  to 
be  a  friend,  and  Logan  went  into  the  cabin  to  communicate  the 
intelligence.  William  Penn  being  thus  relieved  of  apprehension, 
reprimanded  Logan  for  being  willing  to  take  part  in  defending  the 
ship,  contrary  to  the  principles  of  his  sect.  Whereupon  Logan 
said  :  "  I  being  thy  servant,  Avhy  did  not  thee  order  me  to  come 
down  ?  But  thee  was  willing  enough  that  I  should  stay  and  help 
fight  the  ship,  when  thee  thought  there  was  danger." 

In  later  years,  when  the  Quakers  feared  to  offend  the  government 
by  voting  against  all  army  appropriations,  the  money  asked  for  was 
said  to  be  "  for  the  king's  use ;"  or,  when  provisions  and  ammuni- 
tions were  to  be  bought,  the  appropriation  was  "  for  the  purchase 
of  bread,  flour,  wheat,  and  other  grain^^  i.  e.,  gunpowder.  To  such 
pitiful  expedients  are  men  reduced  who  hold  fantastical  opinions ; 
or,  holding  such,  are  not  prepared  to  venture  their  all  upon  them. 

The  peace  of  Aix-la-Chapelle,  signed  by  the  British  Commission- 
ers, October  Yth,  1748,  put  an  end  to  the  apprehensions  of  the  colo- 
nies. The  part  played  by  Franklin  during  the  period  of  alarm, 
enhanced  his  influence  in  Pennsylvania,  brought  him  into  confiden- 
tial relations  with  the  Governor,  the  Council,  and  the  circle  of  lead- 
ing men  ;  and  accustomed  the  people  of  Philadelphia  to  regard  him 
as  their  leader  and  refuge  in  time  of  trouble. 

Interesting  events,  meanwhile,  had  occurred  in  the  home  of  Frank- 
lin, and  in  households  connected  with  his.  In  1744,  he  was  made 
happy  by  the  birth  of  another  child,  a  daughter,  who  was  named 
Sarah.  About  this  time,  he  took  as  an  apprentice,  Benjamin  Me- 
com,  a  son  of  his  sister  Jane,  and  placed  him  in  New  York  with 
Mr.  James  Parker,  a  partner  of  his  own.  His  son  William  was 
then  a  stout,  handsome  boy,  not  very  studious  or  tractable.  He 
ran  away  early  in  the  war,  and  enlisted  on  board  a  privateer  in  the 


270  LIFJE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1747. 

Delaware,  from  which  his  father  brought  him  away  home  again. 
Being  active  in  military  affairs,  he  was  permitted  by  his  father,  in 
1746,  when  he  was  but  sixteen,  to  join  an  expedition  which  was 
designed  to  invade  Canada,  but  which,  I  believe,  never  advanced 
beyond  Albany. 

This  running  away  to  join  privateers  seems  to  have  been  the 
besetting  sin  of  boys  during  the  wars  of  that  period.  Young  Me- 
com  ran  away  from  his  master  in  New  York  for  that  purpose,  and 
Franklin  wrote  a  long  letter  to  his  mother  to  prove  to  her  that  it 
was  not  ill-usage  that  made  him  do  it.  "When  boys  see  prizes 
brought  in,"  he  wrote,  "  and  quantities  of  money  shared  among 
the  men,  and  their  gay  living,  it  fills  their  heads  with  notions,  that 
half  distract  them,  and  put  them  quite  out  of  conceit  with  trades, 
and  the  dull  ways  of  getting  money  by  working.  This,  I  suppose, 
was  Ben's  case,  the  Catherine  being  just  before  arrived  with  three 
rich  prizes  ;  and  that  the  glory  of  having  taken  a  privateer  of  the 
enemy,  for  which  both  officers  and  men  were  highly  extolled,  treat- 
ed, and  presented,  worked  strongly  upon  his  imagination.  My  only 
son,  before  I  permitted  him  to  go  to  Albany,  left  my  house  unknown 
to  us  all,  and  got  on  board  a  privateer  from  whence  I  fetched  him. 
No  one  imagined  it  was  hard  usage  at  home,  that  made  him  do 
this.  Every  one  that  knows  me,  thinks  I  am  too  indulgent  a  pa- 
rent, as  well  as  master." 

The  parents  of  Franklin  were  still  living  when  the  war  began. 
They  were  both  very  old,  and  had  begun  to  sink  under  the  infirmi- 
ties to  which  the  aged  are  subject.  He  wrote  to  them  tenderly  and 
thoughtfully  respecting  their  complaints,  suggesting  remedies  in  his 
usual  modest  way.  "  I  apprehend  I  am  too  busy,"  he  wrote  on  one 
occasion,  "in  prescribing  and  meddling  in  the  doctor's  sphere,  when 
any  of  you  complain  of  ails  in  your  letters.  But  as  I  always  employ 
a  physician  myself  when  any  disorder  arises  in  my  family,  and  sub- 
mit implicitly  to  his  orders  in  every  thing,  so  I  hope  you  consider 
my  advice,  when  I  give  any,  only  as  a  mark  of  my  good  will,  and 
put  no  more  of  it  in  practice  than  happens  to  agree  with  what  your 
doctor  directs."  Then  follows  a  considerable  essay  on  their  dis- 
ease. In  1744,  at  the  great  age  of  eighty-nine  years,  his  father 
died.  Franklin  concluded  his  next  letter  to  his  sister  Jane  with 
these  words  :  "  Dear  sister,  I  love  you  tenderly  for  your  care  of  our 
father  in  his  sickness." 


AGED  41.]  ELECTRICITY   BEFORE   FRANKLIN.  271 

Tn  the  Boston  News  Letter^  of  January  17th,  1745,  the  death 
of  Josiah  Franklin  was  noticed  thus :  "  Last  night  died  Mr. 
Josiah  Franklin,  tallow  chandler  and  soap  maker.  By  the  force 
of  a  steady  temperance,  he  had  made  a  constitution,  none  of  the 
strongest,  last  with  comfort  to  the  age  of  eighty-seven  years ;  and 
by  an  entire  dependence  on  his  Redeemer,  and  a  constant  course  of 
the  strictest  piety  and  virtue,  he  was  enabled  to  die  as  he  lived, 
with  cheerfulness  and  peace,  leaving  a  numerous  posterity  the 
honor  of  being  descended  from  a  person  who  through  a  long  life 
supported  the  character  of  an  honest  man.''^ 

From  what  we  have  seen  hitherto  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  it  might 
with  certainty  be  inferred,  that  if  any  particular  description  of  nat- 
ural phenomena  should  chance  strongly  to  excite  his  curiosity,  and 
leisure  were  his  at  the  same  time,  he  would  go  far  in  its  investiga- 
tion. During  the  last  few  years  of  the  war,  he  was  nmch  relieved 
from  the  details  of  business  by  his  excellent  foreman,  David  Hall. 
But  the  war  itself,  one  would  think,  gave  him  work  enough.  It 
was,  however,  amid  the  stir  and  excitement  of  putting  Pennsyl- 
vania into  a  state  of  defense,  that  he  entered  upon  that  course  of 
investigation  which  made  his  name  familiar  to  all  the  world,  and 
raised  the  colonics  themselves  in  the  estimation  of  mankind. 


CHAPTER  VHI. 

ELECTRICITY   BEFORE   FRANKLIN. 

In  November,  1745,  at  the  Dutch  city  of  Leyden,  a  discovery 
was  made,  partly  by  accident,  which  may  be  said,  in  the  literal 
sense  of  the  expression,  to  have  electrified  the  scientific  world. 
Before  that  time,  indeed,  no  one  had  ever  been  strongly  electrified, 
except  the  few  luckless  individuals  who  had  been  in  the  way  when 
nature  was  discharging  one  of  her  own  tremendous  Leyden  jars. 

The  Greeks,  three  centuries  before  the  Christian  era,  had  observed 
that  amber  and  tourmaline  when  rubbed  attract  light  bodies.  Aris- 
totle and  Pliny  both  descant  upon  the  torpedo,  tlic  electricity  of 
which  was  used  to  cure  rheumatic  complaints  in  the  reign  of  Tibe- 


272  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l'747. 

rius.  The  sparks  emitted  from  clothing,  and  from  the  fur  of  animals, 
were  also  observed  by  the  ancients.  But  not  another  fact  respect- 
ing electricity  was  added  to  the  stock  of  knowledge  until  the  year 
1600,  when  Dr.  Gilbert,  of  England,  discovered  that  besides  amber 
and  tourmaline,  several  other  substances  possess  the  electric  power, 
such  as  jet,  diamond,  glass,  sealing  wax,  sulphur,  sapphire,  and  car- 
buncle. He  also  discovered  that  many  substances  cannot  be  elec- 
trically excited ;  for  example,  metals,  ivory,  hard  wood,  flint,  em- 
erald, pearls,  alabaster,  and  natural  magnets.  Lastly,  he  observed 
that  in  dry  cool  air  the  electrical  power  is  excited  easily  and  quickly ; 
in  moist  warm  air,  with  difficulty  or  not  at  all.  At  that  point  the 
subject  remained  until  Otto  Yon  Guericke,  the  inventor  of  the  air 
pump,  constructed  about  1650,  a  rude  electrical  machine,  which  was 
merely  a  ball  of  sulphur  mounted  on  a  revolving  axis,  like  a  grind- 
stone. By  the  aid  of  this  instrument  he  produced  powerful  sparks 
and  flashes  of  electric  light.  He  discovered  that  bodies  excited  by 
friction  communicate  their  electricity  to  other  bodies  by  contact, 
and  that  electrified  substances  repel  as  well  as  attract.  Sir  Isaac 
Newton  made  an  electrical  machine  of  glass,  and  invented  some 
amusing  experiments,  but  drew  no  new  inferences  from  them. 
Francis  Hawksbee  (who  wrote  in  1705),  besides  inventing  a  great 
number  of  brilliant  experiments,  noticed  and  remarked  upon  the  sim- 
ilarity between  the  electric  flash  and  lightning.  Stephen  Gray 
(1720),  of  the  Royal  Society,  added  numberless  experiments,  many 
of  which  were  extremely  ingenious.  He  also  expressed  a  hope  that 
a  method  would  at  length  be  discovered  of  collecting  a  great  quantity 
of  electricity,  "  which,"  he  added,  "  seems  to  be  of  the  same  nature 
with  thunder  and  lightning,  if  we  may  compare  great  things  with 
small."  Add  to  these,  the  detection  by  M.  Dufay,  of  Paris,  of  the 
two  kinds  of  electricity,  which  he  called  vitreous  and  resinous  ;  and 
we  have  arrived  at  the  Leyden  discovery  of  1745. 

Thus  we  find  that,  for  a  century  and  a  half,  electricity  had  been 
studied  in  Europe  by  here  and  there  an  ardent  votary,  but  without 
making  much  more  than  a  show  of  progress.  A  thousand  entertain- 
ing experiments  had  been  performed  and  described.  Spirits  had 
been  fired  and  gunpowder  exploded  by  a  spark  fioin  a  lady's  finger. 
Children  had  been  insulated  by  hanging  them  to  the  ceiling  by  silk 
cords ;  men,  by  placing  them  upon  cakes  of  resin,  and  both  had 
felt  the  electric  prick,  and  their  hair  to  stand  on  end.     A  tolerable 


AGED  41.]  ELECTKICITY    KEFOllE   FKANKXIN.  273 

machine  had  been  constructed  for  exciting  electricity,  though  most 
experimenters  still  used  only  a  glass  tube.  Several  volumes  of 
electrical  observations  and  experiments  had  appeared  from  the  press. 
ISTevertheless,  what  had  been  done  was  little  more  than  a  repetition, 
on  a  great  scale  and  with  better  means,  of  the  original  experiment 
of  rubbing  a  piece  of  amber  on  the  sleeve  of  a  philosopher's  coat. 
Experimenters  in  1745  could  procure  a  more  powerful  spark,  and 
play  a  greater  variety  of  tricks  with  it  than  Dr.  Gilbert  could 
in  1600,  but  that  w^as  nearly  all  the  advantage  they  had  over 
him. 

A  vague  expectation  seems  occasionally  to  have  flitted  across  the 
mands  of  electricians,  that  the  observation  of  electrical  phenomena 
would,  in  the  progress  of  knowledge,  furnish  some  plausible  answer 
to  the  question  addressed  by  mad  Lear,  in  the  forest,  to  poor  Tom . 
"  Let  me  talk  with  this  philosopher.  What  is  the  cause  of  thun- 
der ?"  To  our  ancestors  this  question  was  a  complete  baffler.  It 
is  sometimes  amusing,  and  sometimes  aifecting,  to  read  of  their 
ineffectual  struggles  with  it ;  which  struggles,  however,  seemed  to 
them  by  no  means  ineffectual.  A  hundred  and  fifty  years  ago,  peo- 
ple spoke  of  the  ignorance  of  past  ages  just  as  we  now  do,  and  often 
hid  their  ignorance  from  themselves,  as  we  do,  by  giving  a  new 
name  to  an  old  thing.  Doubtless,  Pliny  thought  he  had  explained, 
thunder,  when  he  said  it  was  only  an  earthquake  in  the  air.  Dr. 
Lister,  we  may  be  sure,  was  well  pleased  with  his  theory  of  light- 
ning, which  he  said  was  caused  by  the  sudden  taking  fire  of  im- 
mense quantities  of  fine  floating  sulphur.  He  also  thought,  tha,t  the 
only  diflerence  between  thunder  and  earthquakes  was,  that  the  one 
took  place  in  the  nir,  and  the  other  under  ground.  Franklin,  in 
1737,  quoted  these  opinions  in  his  Gazette^  and  evidently  thought 
favorably  of  them ;  certainly  he  had  no  thought  of  disputing  them. 

Young  Jonathan  Edwards's  explanation  of  lightning,  as  recorded 
in  his  diary  about  1722,  affords  a  fair  and'  curious  specimen  of  the 
ancient  way  of  thinking  on  this  subject. 

"Lightning,"  he  says,  "seems  to  be  an  almost  infinitely  fine, 
combustible  matter,  that  floats  in  the  air,  that  takes  fire  by  a  sudden 
and  mighty  fermentation,  that  is  some  way  promoted  by  the  cool 
and  moisture,  and  perhaps  attraction,  of  the  clouds.  By  this  sud- 
den agitation,  this  fine,  floating  matter  is  driven  forth  with  a  mighty 
force  one  way  or  other,  whichever  wav  it  is  directed,  by  the  cir- 
12* 


274  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1747. 

cumstances  an-d  temperature  of  the  circumjacent  air ;  for  cold  and 
heat,  density  and  rarity,  moisture  and  dryness,  have  almost  an  infi- 
nitely strong  influence  upon  the  fine  particles  of  matter.  This  fluid 
matter,  thus  projected,  still  fermenting  to  the  same  degree,  divides 
the  air  as  it  goes,  and  every  moment  receives  a  new  impulse  by  the 
continued  fermentation ;  and  as  its  motion  received  its  direction,  at 
first,  from  the  different  temperature  of  the  air,  on  different  sides,  so 
its  direction  is  changed,  according  to  the  temperature  of  the  air  it 
meets  with,  which  renders  the  path  of  the  lightning  so  crooked. 
The  parts  are  so  fine,  and  are  so  vehemently  urged  on,  that  they  in- 
stantaneously make  their  way  into  the  pores  of  earthly  bodies,  still 
burning  with  a  prodigious  heat,  and  so  instantly  rarefying  the  rare- 
fiable  parts.  Sometimes  these  bodies  are  somewhat  bruised ;  which 
is  chiefly  by  the  beating  of  the  air  that  is,  with  great  violence, 
driven  every  way  by  the  inflamed  matter."* 

And  even  this  was  an  advance  upon  the  general  way  of  thinking 
in  the  colonies.  To  attempt  any  explanation  of  what  was  popularly 
regarded  as  the  literal  voice  of  an  infuriated  deity,  burning  for  re- 
venge against  the  insects  he  had  created,  indicated  in  Jonathan 
Edwards  a  bold  as  well  as  inquisitive  genius.  The  popular  mode 
of  thinking  on  this  subject,  is  shown  in  a  paragraph  published  in 
the  Boston  News  Letter  of  June  12th,  1704.  It  was  part  of  a  letter 
to  a  "  Person  of  Quality,"  respecting  a  storm  that  had  lately  raged 
on  the  English  Coast. 

"  Terrible  was  it  beyond  any  thing  in  that  kind  in  memory  or 
record.  For,  not  to  enlarge  upon  the  lamentable  wrecks  and  ruins, 
were  we  not  almost  swept  into  a  chaos  ?  Did  not  Nature  seem 
t-o  be  in  her  last  agony,  and  the  world  ready  to  expire  ?  And 
if  we  go  on  still  in  such  sins  of  defiance,  may  we  not  be  afraid  of 
the  punishment  of  Sodom,  and  that  God  should  destroy  us  with 
fire  and  brimstone  ?  What  impression  this  late  calamity  has  made 
upon  the  play-house,  we  may  guess  by  their  acting  Macbeth,  with 
all  its  thunder  and  tempest,  the  same  day :  where,  at  the  mention  of 
the  chimneys  being  blown  down  (Macbeth,  p.  20),  the  audience  were 
pleased  to  clap,  at  an  unusual  length  of  pleasure  and  approbation. 
And  is  not  the  meaning  of  all  this  too  intelligible  ?  Does  it  not 
look  as  if  they  had  a  mind  to  outbrave  judgment,  and  make  us  be- 
lieve the  storm  was  nothing  but  an  eruption  of  Epicm'us's  atoms,  a 

*  Dwighf  s  "  Life  of  Edwards,"  p.  748. 


AGED  41.j  ELECTRICITY   BEFORE   FRANKLIN.  275 

spring- tide  of  matter  and  motion,  and  a  blind  sally  of  chance? 
This  throwing  Providence  out  of  the  scheme,  is  an  admirable  opiate 
for  the  conscience !"  etc. 

How  true  the  late  remark  of  Mr.  Herbert  Spencer :  "  It  is  de- 
monstrable that  every  step  by  Avhich  Religion  has  progressed  from 
its  first  low  conception  to  the  comparatively  high  one  it  has  now 
reached,  Science  has  helped  it,  or  rather  forced  it,  to  take."  And 
again :  "  The  beliefs  which  science  has  forced  upon  religion  have 
been  intrinsically  more  religious  than  those  which  they  supplant- 
ed." * 

The  Ley  den  discovery  of  1 745  was  a  stride  toward  the  nobler,  the 
"more  religious"  behef,  respecting  the  dread  electricity  of  the 
clouds :  namely,  that  it  is  remedial  and  beneficent ;  the  manifesta- 
tion of  a  Power  that  is  benign  always,  mahgn  never. 

At  Leyden,  three  persons  were  experimenting  in  electricity: 
Professor  Muschenbroeck  and  Professor  Allamand  of  the  famous 
Leyden  University,  and  Mr.  C uncus,  who  seems  to  have  been  an 
amateur  in  science  and  a  friend  of  the  two  professors  just  named. 
These  gentlemen  were  aware  that  the  great  obstacle  to  progress  in 
the  knowledge  of  electricity,  was  the  difficulty  of  accumulating  and 
retaining  it.  They  used,  for  a  prime  conductor,  a  small  iron  cannon, 
suspended  by  silk  threads.  This  cannon  they  could  powerfully 
charge  with  electricity,  but  in  a  few  seconds  after  ceasing  to  turn 
the  handle  of  the  machine,  the  electricity  had  escaped.  The  idea 
occurred  to  Professor  Muschenbroeck  that,  perhaps,  an  electrified 

*  "  First  Principles,"  by  Herbert  Spencer,  pp.  102  and  104.  Another  illustration  of  Mr.  Spencer'8 
remark  is  found  in  the  following  passage  from  a  sermon  by  Dr.  Byles,  preached  in  Boston  a  hundrel 
years  ago:  "If  an  Earthquake  be  caus'd  by  imprison'd  Wind,  which  wanting  Vent,  rushes  with  a 
bellowing  Koar  under  the  Earth,  and  heaves  up  the  Ground  into  Trembles,  it  must  give  us  an  amaz- 
ing Horror  to  think  this  Subterranean  Vapour  must  break  out  somewhere  or  other,  and  that  we 
don't  know  but  it  may  rush  out  under  our  Feet,  and  bury  us  all  in  one  prodigious  Chasm.  If  it  be 
caused  by  Fires,  which  burn  under  us,  and  run  in  Elvers  of  Flame,  which  threaten  to  blaze  out  in 
the  most  dreadful  Eruptions;  it  must  fearfully  surprise  to  think  how  the  outward  Convex  Earth 
which  is  our  present  Foundation,  is  only  an  Arch,  which  as  it  woro  hangs  over  a  fiery  Sea;  and  that 
if  it  should  once  cave  in,  we  should  fall  into  a  Boiling  and  Sulphurious  Lake.  It  is  the  Senti- 
ment of  the  best  modern  Philosophers,  that  the  Earth  is  continually  sapt  and  undermined  by  Fire ; 
and  its  Vitals  burnt  with  an  hectick  Fever,  so  that  it  is  gradually  preparing  for  the  final  Confla- 
gration, when  its  extreme  Surface  will  at  last  share  the  Fate  that  is  now  sufi'ered  by  its  Entrails. 
Doubtless  those  burning  Mountains  which  throw  out  of  their  Caverns  perpetual  Flames  and  Cin- 
der, and  sometimes  Vomit  Rivers  of  melted  materials,  have  numerous  Sources  from  all  parts  of  this 
Globe,  which  still  supply  them  with  fresh  and  eternal  Recruits.  So  that  an  Earthquake  must 
needs  give  us  some  natural  Expectation  and  Image  of  those  last  tremendous  Convulsions  when  this 
large  and  spacious  Arch  which  is  stretch'd  over  the  Hollow  that  is  under  it,  shall  descend  dow7i 
with  a  mighty  noise,  and  the  Waves  of  Fire  breaking  out.  sliall  boil  over  it."' 


278  LIFE   AND    TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [^'^^7. 

body  might  be  so  surrounded  by  a  non-conducting  substance  that 
the  electricity  could  not  escape :  it  might  be  imprisoned  like  Ariel 
in  an  oak  tree.  Glass  being  a  non-conductor,  and  water  a  conductor, 
he  tried  the  experiment,  many  times,  with  a  glass  bottle  half  full  of 
water,  with  a  wire  hanging  from  his  cannon  into  the  water.  Noth- 
ing remarkable  resulted  from  this  experiment,  for  some  time.  One 
day,  however,  Mr.  Cuneus  chanced  to  touch  the  prime  conductor 
with  one  hand  while  holding  in  the  other  the  electrified  bottle  of 
water.  The  result  was  an  electric  shock,  the  first  ever  given  to 
mortal  man  by  artificial  means. 

Amazement  and  terror  overcame  the  soul  of  Mr.  Cuneus,  slight 
as  the  shock  must  have  been.  We  talk  of  "  new  sensations,"  but 
no  sensation  of  recent  times  has  produced  an  effect  equal  to  that  of 
the  electric  shock  upon  the  imagination  of  the  Dutch  and  German 
professors  who  first  experienced  it.  Professor  Muschenbroeck,  who 
immediately  repeated  the  experiment  with  a  small  glass  bowl,  de- 
clared to  his  friend  Reaumur,  that  he  felt  himself  struck  in  his  arms, 
shoulders,  and  chest,  with  such  force  that  he  lost  his  breath  for  some 
moments,  and  then  felt  so  intense  a  pain  along  his  right  arm  that  he 
began  to  be  seriously  alarmed,  and  it  was  two  days  before  he  re- 
covered from  the  efiects  of  the  blow  and  the  terror.  "  I  v/ould 
not,"  he  added,  "  take  a  second  shock  for  the  kingdom  of  France." 
Professor  Allamand  took  a  shock  from  a  beer  glass,  and  he  gave  a 
similar  account  of  its  efiects.  He  said  that  he  lost  his  breath  for 
some  minutes,  and  felt  a  pain  so  acute  that  he  could  scarcely  bear 
it.  Professor  Winkler,  of  Leipsic,  hearing  of  the  new  experiment, 
had  the  courage  to  brave  its  terrors.  So  violent,  he  said,  were  the 
convulsions  into  which  he  was  thrown,  and  such  the  agitation  of  his 
blood,  that  he  was  afraid  he  was  about  to  be  seized  with  a  danger- 
ous fever,  and  had  recourse  to  the  usual  cooling  medicines.  He  also 
felt  a  heaviness  in  his  head,  as  though  a  stone  lay  upon  it.  Twice 
his  nose  bled,  a  malady  before  unknown  to  his  experience.  His 
w4fe,  not  dismayed  by  these  dire  consequences,  and  having  the 
combined  curiosity  of  a  woman  and  of  a  professor's  wife,  received 
two  shocks,  and  found  herself  almost  deprived  of  the  power  to 
walk,  and  remained  in  a  limp  and  feeble  condition  for  a  week.* 

Thus  the  Leyden  Jar  was  invented  ;  which  was  the  most  impor- 

*  Priestley's  History  of  Electricity,  p.  81. 


AGED    41.]  FRANKLIN    AND    ELECTRICITY.  277 

tant  single  contribution  to  electrical  science  that  has  been  made  since 
the  electric  properties  of  amber  were  first  observed.  Sir  William 
Watson,  of  London,  a  retired  apothecary  and  man  of  learning,  soon 
completed  the  invention,  as  we  now  have  it,  by  coating  the  jar 
within  and  without  with  tin  foil. 

The  fame  of  this  experiment  spread  with  great  rapidity.  Perhaps 
it  may  be  said  that  no  scientific  discovery  ever  made  such  a  noise 
in  the  world  as  this.  So  universal  was  the  desire  to  experience  the 
naw  sensation,  that  large  numbers  of  persons,  during  the  year  1746, 
went  about  in  England j  Germany,  France,  Holland,  and  Italy,  giving 
shocks  for  money.  Every  one  acquainted  with  the  current  literature 
of  that  period,  will  be  able  to  call  to  mind  proofs  of  the  universal 
interest  then  felt  in  all  that  related  to  electricity.  Dr.  A.  Carlyle, 
who  was  in  London  this  year,  bestows  one  of  his  matter-of-fact  sen- 
tences upon  the  prevailing  topic :  "  Experiments  in  electricity  were 
then  but  new  in  England,  and  I  saw  them  well  exhibited  at  Baker's, 
whose  wife,  by  the  by,  was  a  daughter  of  the  celebrated  Daniel 
Defoe."  At  the  same  time,  a  coterie  of  the  Royal  Society,  with  the 
ardent  and  ingenious  Sir  William  Watson  at  their  head,  were  en- 
gaged in  a  course  of  magnificent  experiments  to  determine  the  ve- 
locity of  electricity ;  while  in  Spain,  the  Abbe  Nollet  was  giving 
shocks  to  whole  regiments  of  guards  at  once.  Everybody  in  Eu- 
rope, that  had  in  him  the  least  tincture  of  science,  provided  himself 
with  a  long  electrical  tube,  Avhich  he  rubbed  with  assiduity.  To 
use  the  modern  slang,  electricity  was  the  rage. 


CHAPTER  IX. 

FRANKLIN  AND  ELECTRICITY. 

Mr.  Peter  Collinson,  the  London  agent  for  the  Library  Com- 
pany of  Philadelphia,  was  still  accustomed  to  send,  with  the  annual 
parcel  of  books,  any  work  or  curious  object,  as  a  gift,  which  chanced 
to  be  in  vogue  at  the  time,  and  had  escaped  the  attention  of  the 
directors.  What  more  natural  than  that  he  should  send,  in  1746, 
one  of  the  electrical  tubes,  with  a  paper  of  directions  for  using  it  ? 


278  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIIS    FRANKLIN.  [1747. 

The  tubes  then  commonly  used  were  two  feet  and  a  half  long,  and 
as  thick  as  a  man  could  conveniently  grasp.  They  were  rubbed 
with  a  piece  of  cloth  or  buckskin,  and  held  in  contact  with  the 
object  designed  to  be  charged. 

It  so  chanced  that  a  few  weeks  before  the  arrival  of  Peter  CoUin- 
son's  tube,  Franklin  liad  seen  a  similar  one  in  Boston,  the  property 
of  Dr.  Spence,  who  had  recently  brought  it  from  Scotland.  The 
usual  electrical  experiments  were  performed  by  Dr.  Spence  in  the 
presence  of  Franklin,  whom  they  astonished  and  entertained,  for  the 
subject  was  absolutely  new  to  him.  No  sooner,  therefore,  was  the 
tube  unpacked  at  the  Philadelphia  Library,  than  he  eagerly  seized 
the  opportunity  to  repeat  the  experiments,  which  he  had  witnessed 
in  Boston,  as  well  as  those  described  by  Mr.  Colhnson,  who  had 
sent  an  account  of  Professor  Muschenbroeck's  miraculous  bottle,  as 
it  was  then  frequently  styled.  The  subject  completely  fascinated 
him.  He  gave  himself  wholly  up  to  it.  Procuring  other  tubes  at 
the  Philadelphia  Glass-works,  he  distributed  them  among  his  friends, 
and  set  the  whole  Junto  rubbing.  "  I  never,"  he  wrote,  early  in 
1747,  "was  before  engaged  in  any  study  that  so  totally  engrossed 
my  attention  and  my  time  as  this  has  lately  done ;  for,  what  with 
making  experiments  when  I  can  be  alone,  and  repeating  them  to  my 
friends  and  acquaintance,  who,  from  the  novelty  of  the  thing,  come 
continually  in  crowds  to  see  them,  I  have,  during  some  months 
])ast,  had  little  leisure  for  any  thing  else." 

To  the  greater  number,  of  course,  the  electrical  tube  was  a  new 
toy  only,  which  amused  them  for  a  time,  and  was  then  laid  aside. 
Three  Philadelphians,  however,  besides  Franklin,  continued  to  make 
the  new  science  a  subject  of  constant  study  and  laborious  experi- 
ment for  many  years :  Ebenezer  Kinnersley,  Thomas  Hopkinson, 
and  Philip  Syng.  The  four  experimenters  pursued  their  subject 
both  separately  and  together,  each  animated  by  a  pare  desire  to 
know  more  of  this  wonderful  and  mysterious  element,  which  seemed 
to  pervade  all  things,  and  yet  had  remained  so  long  unknown;  the" 
investigation  of  which  promised  to  bring  the  inquirer  a  step  nearer 
to  nature's  innermost  secret.  Each  of  Franklin's  three  co-operators 
imparted  to  him  valuable  suggestions  and  discoveries,  which  he 
acknowledged  and  applauded.  Mr.  Syng,  for  example,  contrived  an 
electrical  machine,  similar  to  those  used  in  Europe,  of  which  he  had 
never  heard.     The  power  of  points  to  throw  off  electricity  was  first 


4^1 


AGED    41.]  FRANKLIN    AND    ELECTRICITY.  279 

observed  by  Mr.  Hopkiiison :  Franklin  having  only  noticed  their 
power  to  draAV  it  off.  Mr.  Kinnersley  contributed  several  highly 
interesting  observations,  and  contrived  experiments  of  singular 
ingenuity,  some  of  which  are  still  performed  in  our  lecture  rooms. 

Let  us  also  remark,  that,  in  the  universal  enthusiasm  with  which 
electricity  was  then  studied,  some  valuable  discoveries  were  made 
by  several  persons  almost  simultaneously ;  which  has  led  to  much 
pitiful  contention  with  regard  to  the  "  credit "  due  to  the  several 
investigators.  We  should  be  modest  for  a  modest  man,  said  Charles 
Lamb.  Franklin  claimed  no  credit  for  what  he  achieved  in  electri- 
city; and  no  man  will  ever  do  much  in  science  who  cares  much  for 
the  credit  of  what  he  may  do.  The  true  discoverer  knows  too  well, 
and  laments  too  deeply  the  limitedness  of  his  powers,  to  plume 
himself  upon  his  one  or  two  half-chance  detections  of  nature's  way. 
His  eyes  are  fixed,  not  upon  the  few  pebbles  in  his  hand,  but  upon 
the  boundless  ocean  of  truth,  of  which  he  can  know  nothing,  except 
that  it  exists.  We  may,  therefore,  spare  ourselves  the  disgust  of 
meddling  with  those  silly  disputes  as  to  who  happened  first  to 
observe  this  or  that  electrical  law.  If  the  whole  of  the  little  that 
we  now  hnoio  of  electricity  had  been  discovered  by  one  man, 
he,  if  no  one  else,  would  have  been  aware  that  it  was  not  much  to 
boast  of. 

During  the  whole  of  the  winter  of  1^4 6-' 7,  Franklin  and  his 
friends  were  devoted  to  electricity.  They  experimented  frequently 
with  points,  the  power  of  which  to  draw  off  electricity  from  an 
excited  body  had  early  engaged  their  attention.  Electrical  attrac- 
tion and  repulsion  were  observed  with  the  utmost  care.  That 
electricity  is  not  created,  but  only  collected  by  friction,  was  one  of 
their  first  conjectures  ;  the  correctness  of  which  they  soon  demon- 
strated by  a  great  number  of  experiments.  Franklin's  theory  of 
plus  and  minus,  or  positive  and  negative  electricity,  was  reached  in 
this  first  season  of  his  experimenting,  since  we  find  it  imperfectly 
stated  in  a  letter  dated  in  July,  1747.  Before  having  heard  of  the 
coating  of  the  Loyden  jar  with  tin-foil,  the  Philadelphia  experi- 
menters substituted  granulated  lead  for  the  water  employed  by 
Prof.  Maschenbroeck.  They  fired  spirits,  and  lighted  candles  with 
the  electrical  spark ;  they  improved  the  electrical  kiss,  so  that  a  shock 
was  given,  instead  of  a  mere  spark  at  the  moment  of  contact.  They 
performed  rare  tricks  with  a  spider  made  of  burnt  cork;   to  the 


280  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l747. 

wonder  and  delight  of  young  Philadelphia.  It  was  in  this  f  rst 
winter,  too,  that  Philip  Syng  mounted  one  of  the  tubes  upon  a 
crnnk,  and  employed  a  cannon  ball  as  a  prime  conductor,  probably 
one  of  the  very  balls  procured  for  the  defense  of  the  province  against 
the  French  and  Spanish.  Before  the  construction  of  this  machine, 
the  rubbing  of  the  tube  had  been  a  great  fatigue,  and  a  serious 
drawback  to  the  pleasure  of  the  experimenters. 

Most  of  these  things  had  been  done  or  suggested  before;  but 
most  of  them,  too,  were  original  discoveries  of  the  Philadelphians, 
who  had  heard  nothing  of  them.  The  plus  and  minus  theory, 
although  two  English  observers  had  approached  it,  was  the  unassisted 
conclusion  of  these  Pennsylvanian  Philosophers.  In  his  first  letter 
to  Mr.  Collinson  on  electricity,  Franklin  said  that  the  experiments 
and  observations  made  by  himself  and  his  friends,  though  new  in 
the  new  world,  had  probably  been  anticipated  and  in  Europe  by  one 
or  more  of  the  many  persons  daily  employed  there  on  electrical 
experiments. 

The  summer  of  1 747  was  devoted,  as  we  have  seen,  to  preparing  the 
provinse  for  defense.  But  during  the  fall  and  winter  following,  the 
four  Philadelphians  resumed  their  electrical  experiments,  the  results 
of  which  Franklin  detailed  in  other  letters  to  Mr.  Collinson.  The 
wondrous  Leyden  jar  was  the  object  of  Franklin's  incessant  obser- 
vation. He  was  never  weary  of  experimenting  with  it.  Having 
applied  to  it  his  plus  and  minus  theory,  he  exhausted  even  his  in- 
genuity in  devising  experiments  to  place  his  explanation  beyond 
the  possibility  of  question.  That  the  electric  shock  was  only  the 
sudden  restoration  of  the  electrical  equilibrium,  he  not  only  proved, 
but  shoioed^  by  making  the  rush  of  electricity  visible  along  the 
gilding  of  a  book. 

As  a  specimen  of  his  mode  of  investigating,  take  a  single  passage, 
descriptive  of  one  of  the  discoveries  of  this  second  electrical 
winter.  The  Leyden  phial  used  in  these  masterly  experiments,  was 
Maschenbroeck's  original  invention,  a  mere  bottle  of  water,  with  a 
v/ire  piercing  the  cork. 

"Purposing,"  wrote  Frankhn,  "to  analyze  the  electrified  bottle, 
in  order  to  find  wherein  its  strength  lay,  we  placed  it  on  glass,  and 
drev/  out  the  cork  and  wire,  which  for  that  purpose  had  been 
loosely  put  in.  Then  taking  the  bottle  in  one  hand,  and  bringing 
a  finger  of  the  other  near  its  mouth,  a  strong  spark  came  from  the 


AGED   41.]  FRAXKLIN    AND   ELECTRICITY.  281 

water,  and  the  shock  was  as  violent  as  if  the  wire  had  reniained  in 
it^  which  showed  that  the  force  did  not  lie  in  the  wire.  Then,  to 
find  if  it  resided  in  the  water,  being  crowded  into  and  condensed 
in  it,  as  confined  by  the  glass,  which  had  been  our  former  opinion, 
we  electrified  the  bottle  again,  and,  placing  it  on  glass,  drew  out 
the  wire  and  cork  as  before ;  then,  taking  up  the  bottle,  we  de- 
canted all  its  water  into  an  empty  bottle,  which  likewise  stood  on 
glass  ;  and  taking  up  that  other  bottle,  we  expected,  if  the  force 
resided  in  the  water,  to  find  a  shock  from  it ;  but  there  was  none. 
We  judged  then  that  it  must  either  be  lost  in  decanting,  or  remain 
in  the  first  bottle.  The  latter  we  found  to  be  true  ;  for  that  bottle 
on  trial  gave  the  shock,  though  filled  up  as  it  stood  with  fresh  un- 
electrified  water  from  a  tea-pot.  To  find,  then,  whether  glass  had 
this  property  merely  as  glass,  or  whether  the  form  contributed 
any  thing  to  it,  we  took  a  pane  of  sash-glass,  and,  laying  it  on  the 
hand,  placed  a  plate  of  lead  on  its  upper  surface ;  then  electrified 
that  plate,  and  bringing  a  finger  to  it,  there  was  a  spark  and  shock. 
We  then  took  two  plates  of  lead  of  equal  dimensions,  but  less  than 
the  glass  by  two  inches  every  way,  and  electrified  the  glass  between 
them,  by  electrifying  the  uppermost  lead  ;  then  separated  the  glass 
from  the  lead,  in  doing  which,  what  little  fire  might  be  in  the  lead 
was  taken  out,  and  the  glass  being  touched  in  the  electrified  parts 
with  a  finger,  afibrded  only  very  small  pricking  sparks,  but  a  great 
number  of  them  might  be  taken  from  different  places'.  Then  dex- 
terously placing  it  again  between  the  leaden  plates,  and  completing 
a  circle  between  the  two  surfaces,  a  violent  shock  ensued  :  which 
demonstrated  the  power  to  reside  in  glass  as  glass,  and  that  the 
non-electrics  in  contact  served  only,  like  the  armature  of  a  loadstone, 
to  unite  the  force  of  the  several  parts,  and  bring  them  at  once  to  any 
point  desired ;  it  being  the  property  of  a  non-electric,  that  the  whole 
body  instantly  receives  or  gives  what  electrical  fire  is  given  to,  or 
taken  from,  any  one  of  its  parts. 

"  Upon  this  we  made  what  we  called  an  electrical  battery^  consist- 
ing of  eleven  panes  of  large  sash-glass,  armed  with  thin  leaden 
plates,  pasted  on  each  side,  placed  vertically,  and  supported  at  two 
inches  distance  on  silk  cords,  with  thick  hooks  of  leaden  wire,  one 
from  each  side,  standing  upright,  distant  from  each  other,  and  con- 
venient communications  of  wire  and  chain,  from  the  giving  side  of 
one  pane  to  the  receiving  side   of  the  other-  that  so  the  whole 


282  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l748. 

might  be  charged  together,  and  with  the  same  labor  as  one  single 
pane." 

This  battery  was  soon  superseded  by  one  consisting  of  a  series 
of  Leyden  jars,  which  was  found  more  convenient,  and  the  power 
of  which  many  a  too  eager  electrician  besides  Franklin  has  experi- 
enced. 

Mr.  Kinnersley,  this  winter,  contrived  the  amusing  experiment  of 
the  magical  picture.  A  figure  of  his  majesty.  King  George  II., 
("  God  preserve  him,"  says  the  loyal  Franklin,  in  a  parenthesis, 
when  telling  the  story,)  was  so  arranged  that  any  one  who  attempted 
to  take  his  crown  from  his  head,  received  a  tremendous  shock. 
Franklin  contrived  an  electric  wheel,  which  revolved  with  consider- 
able force,  and  by  the  aid  of  his  battery  of  jars,  he  gave  shocks 
powerful  enough  to  kill  a  hen.  The  main  result,  however,  of  this 
winter's  experimenting  was  the  explanation  of  the  Leyden  jar ;  an 
explanation  to  which  subsequent  inquirers  have  been  able  to  add 
nothing  of  importance.  Indeed,  we  may  say,  that  the  essentials  of 
the  theory  of  electricity,  as  now  taught  in  our  schools,  were  estab- 
lished by  Franklin  during  this  season.  As  the  spring  drew  on,  the 
experimenters  slackened  their  diligence,  and  Franklin  summed  up 
their  winter's  work  in  a  long  letter  to  Mr.  Collinson,  which  con- 
cluded with  these  words : 

"  Chagrined  a  little  that  we  have  been  hitherto  able  to  produce 
nothing  in  this  way  of  use  to  mankind,  and  the  hot  weather  com- 
ing on,  when  electrical  experiments  are  not  so  agreeable,  it  is  pro- 
posed to  put  an  end  to  them  for  this  season,  somewhat  humorously, 
in  a  party  of  pleasure  on  the  banks  of  the  Schuylkill.  Spirits,  at 
the  same  time,  are  to  be  fired  by  a  spark  sent  from  side  to  side 
through  the  river,  without  any  other  conductor  than  the  water ;  an 
experiment  which  we  some  time  since  performed,  to  the  amazement 
of  many.  A  turkey  is  to  be  killed  for  our  dinner  by  the  electrical 
shocks  and  roasted  by  the  electrical  jack^  before  a  fire  kindled  by 
the  electrified  bottle ;  when  the  healths  of  all  the  famous  electri- 
cians in  England,  Holland,  France,  and  Germany  are  to  be  drank 
in  electrified  bumpers,  under  the  discharge  of  guns  from  the  elec- 
triccd  battery.'''' 

The  summer  of  1748  brought  with  it  a  prospect  of  peace,  which 
the  autumn  fulfilled.  Franklin  again  looked  forward  to  a  winter 
of  electrical  studies. 


AGED    42.]  FRANKLIN   AND    ELECTRICITY.  283 

And  now  this  man,  whose  name  throughout  Christendom  is  an- 
other word  for  the  undue  love  of  money,  gave  a  striking  proof  that 
he^  knew  the  exact  worth  of  money,  and  vahied  it  for  what  it  is 
vvorth,  and  for  no  more.  He  had  been  twenty  years  in  business.  He 
jvas  forty-two  years  of  age.  He  had  acquired  an  estate,  which,  as 
I  conjecture,  yielded  about  seven  hundred  pounds  sterling  a  year, 
which  was  then  esteemed  a  handsome  income  for  a  retiring  trades- 
man. In  a  colonial  town,  a  hundred  and  ten  years  ago,  an  income 
of  seven  hundred  pounds  a  year  would  buy  every.thing  that  a  man 
of  sense  ever  wants,  either  for  himself  or  for  his  family.  It  was 
equivalent  to  an  income  of  six  or  seven  thousand  dollars  in  the 
Pliiladelphia  of  1860.  Besides  this  independence,  Franklin  was  the 
holder  of  two  offices  worth  together,  perhaps,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  a  year.  His  business,  then  more  flourishing  than  ever, 
produced  an  annual  profit,  as  before  computed,  of  two  thousand 
pounds,  bringing  up  his  income  to  the  troublesome  and  absurd 
amount  of  nearly  three  thousand  pounds  ;  three  times  the  revenue 
of  a  colonial  governor.  Yearning  to  devote  the  rest  of  his  life  to 
science,  Franklin,  in  September,  1748,  offered  to  dispose  of  his 
pi-intiug  business  to  his  foreman,  David  Hall,  who  had  then  been 
jti  his  employment  some  years,  and  had  proved  himself  to  be  a  man 
of  ability  and  worth.  The  terms  of  the  sale,  as  reported  by  tradi- 
tion to  Mr.  Isaiah  Thomas,*  and  others,  were  these :  Hall  to  have 
the  control  of  the  business  as  though  it  were  wholly  his  own ;  to 
pay  Franklin  a  thousand  pounds  a  year  for  eighteen  years  ;  then  to 
become  the  sole  proprietor  without  further  consideration  ;  the  busi- 
ness, meanwhile,  to  be  carried  on  in  the  names  of  Franklin  and 
Hall,  and  Franklin  to  assist  in  editing  the  Gazette  and  J*oor  Rich- 
ard. On  these  or  similar  terms,  the  partnership  was  formed,  in  the 
autumn  of  1748,  and  Franklin  was  free  to  pursue  his  darling  science 
with  little  hindrance.  7 

^o  T5adwallader  Golden,  of  New  York,  September  20th  of  this 
year,  he  communicates  his  purpose  to  retire,  and  adds  :  "  I  have  re- 
moved to  a  more  quiet  part  of  the  town,  where  I  am  settling  my 
old  accounts,  and  hope  soon  to  be  quite  master  of  my  own  time, 
and  no  longer,  as  the  song  has  it,  at  every  one's  call  hut  my  own. 
If  health  continue,  I  hope  to  be  able  in  another  year  to  visit  the 

*  Anthi^r  of  the  "  History  of  Printing;." 


284  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BEXJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [l749. 

most  distant  friend  I  have,  without  inconvenience.  With  the  same 
views  I  have  refused  engaging  further  in  public  aiFairs.  The  share 
I  had  in  the  late  Association  (for  defense)  having  given  me  a  little 
present  run  of  popularity,  there  was  a  pretty  general  intention  of 
choosing  me  a  representative  of  the  city  at  the  next  election  of 
Assemblymen ;  but  I  have  desired  all  ray  friends,  who  spoke  to  me 
about  it,  to  discourage  it,  declaring  that  I  should  not  serve  if  chosen. 
Thus  you  see  I  am  in  a  fair  way  of  having  no  other  tasks,  than  such 
as  I  shall  like  to  give  myself,  and  of  enjoying  what  I  look  upon  as  a 
great  happiness,  leisure  to  read,  study,  make  experiments,  and  con- 
verse at  large  with  such  ingenious  and  wortliy  men,  as  are  pleased 
to  honor  me  with  their  friendship  or- acquaintance,  on  such  points  as 
may  produce  something  for  the  common  benefit  of  mankind,  unin- 
terrupted by  the  little  cares  and  fatigues  of  business." 

Soon  after.  Dr.  Spence  brought  from  England  a  considerable 
electrical  apparatus,  intending  to  lecture  in  the  colonies.  Upon  his 
arrival  in  Philadelphia,  Franklin  bought  his  apparatus,  and,  ere  long, 
Mr,  Penn,  the  proprietary,  sent  over  as  a  present  to  the  Library 
Company  a  complete  set  of  electrical  implements ;  so  that  the  Phil- 
adelphians  had  then  abundant  means  of  pursuing  their  investiga- 
tions. The  retired  part  of  the  town  of  which  Franklin  speaks  in  the 
letter  just  quoted,  was  the  southeast  corner  of  Race  and  Second 
Streets,*  then  on  the  very  outskirts  of  the  city.  His  garden  prob- 
ably extended  to  the  Delaware,  distant  not  more  than  one-eighth 
of  a  mile.  It  was  not  difficult  for  him  to  indulge  his  passion  for  the 
water,  in  which,  he  tells  us,  he  used  to  sport  an  hour  or  two  every 
fine  summer  evening. 

On  resuming  his  electrical  studies,  he  confined  his  observations  no 
longer  to  the  electricity  gathered  by  the  machine,  but  essayed  to 
discover  the  part  played  in  nature  by  this  wonderful  element.  The 
patience  Avith  which  he  observed  the  electrical  phenomena  of  the 
heavens,  the  acuteness  displayed  by  him  in  drawing  from  his  ob- 
servations plausible  inferences,  and  the  rapidity  with  which  he 
arrived  at  all  that  we  now  know  of  thunder  and  lightning,  still  ex- 
cite the  astonishment  of  those  who  read  the  graphic  narratives  he 
has  left  us  of  his  proceedings.  All  the  winter  of  1748-'9,  and  all 
the  summer  following,  he  was  feeling  his  way  to  his  final  conclu- 

*  Watson-s  Annuls  of  Philadelphia,  i,,  533, 


AGED    43.]  FEAN-KLI2N"   AND   ELECTRICITY.  285 

sions  on  this  subject.  He  drew  up  early  in  1 749  a  series  of  fifty- 
six  observations,  entitled  "  Observations  and  Suppositions  towards 
forming  a  new  Hypothesis  for  explaining  the  several  Phenomena 
of  Thunder-gusts."  Nearly  all  tliat  he  afterwards  demonstrated 
on  this  subject  is  anticipated  in  this  truly  remarkable  paper,  which 
was  the  product  of  a  great  understanding  grappling  with  a  subject 
worthy  of  its  powers.  He  followed  it  soon  with  the  most  elabo- 
rate nnd  celebrated  of  all  his  electrical  writings,  entitled  "  Opinions 
and  Conjectures  concerning  the  Properties  and  Effects  of  the 
Electrical  Matter,  and  the  means  of  preserving  Buildings,  Ships,  &c., 
fi'om  Lightning,  arising  from  Experiments  and  Observations  made  at 
Philadelphia,  1749." 

The  two  grand  topics  of  this  masterly  paper,  are  the  power  of 
poijits  to  draw  off  electricity,  and  the  similarity  of  electricity  and 
lightning.  It  is  this  treatise  which  contains  the  two  suggestions 
which  gave  to  the  name  of  Franklin  its  first  celebrity,  and  which 
we  may  safely  style  immortal.  Both  these  suggestions  are  con- 
tained in  one  brief  passage,  which  follows  the  description  of  a 
splendid  experiment,  in  which  a  miniature  lightning-rod  had 
conducted  harmlessly  away  the  electricity  of  an  artificial  thunder- 
storm. 

"  If  these  things  are  so,"  continued  the  philosopher,  after  stating 
the  results  of  his  superb  experiment,  "  may  not  the  knowledge  of 
this  power  of  points  be  of  use  to  mankind,  in  preserving  houses, 
churches,  ships,  etc.,  from  the  stroke  of  lightning,  by  directing  us 
to  fix,  on  the  highest  part  of  those  edifices,  upright  rods  of  iron 
made  sharp  as  a  needle,  and  gilt  to  prevent  rusting,  and  from  the 
foot  of  those  rods,  a  wire  down  the  outside  of  the  building  into  the 
ground,  or  down  round  one  of  the  shrouds  of  a  ship,  and  down  her 
side  till  it  reaches  the  water  ?  Would  not  these  pointed  rods  prob- 
ably draw  the  electrical  fire  silently  out  of  a  cloud  before  it  came 
nigh  enough  to  strike,  and  thereby  secure  us  from  that  most  sudden 
and  terrible  mischief?" 

In  such  simple,  and  in  such  few  words,  does  Genius  reveal  its 
conceptions.  And  Franklin  introduces  this  topic  with  a  sort  of 
humorous  half-apology.  He  confesses  that  he  cannot  tell  why 
points  possess  this  curious  power;  nor  is  it  necessary,  he  adds,  that 
we  should  understand  it.  "  It  is  of  real  use  to  know  that  china 
left  in  the  air  unsupported  will  fall  and  break ;  but  how  it  comes  to 


286  LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FBANKLIN.  [1750. 

fall,  and  why  it  breaks,  are  matters  of  speculation.     It  is  a  pleasure 
indeed  to  know  them,  but  we  can  preserve  our  china  without  it." 

The  second  of  these  immortal  suggestions  was  the  one  that  im- 
mediately arrested  the  attention  of  European  electricians  when  at 
last  the  paper  was  published.     It  was  given  in  these  words  : 

"  To  determine  the  question,  whether  the  clouds  that  contain- 
lightning  are  electrified  or  not,  I  would  propose  an  experiment  to 
be  tried  where  it  may  be  done  conveniently.  On  the  top  of  some 
high  tower  or  steeple,  place  a  kind  of  sentry  box,  big  enough  to 
contain  a  man  and  an  electric  stand.  From  the  middle  of  the  stand 
let  an  iron  rod  rise  and  pass  bending  out  of  the  door,  and  then  upright 
twenty  or  thirty  feet,  pointed  very  sharp  at  the  end.  If  the  elec- 
trical stand  be  kept  clean  and  dry,  a  man  standing  on  it,  when  such 
clouds  are  passing  low,  might  be  electrified  and  aff'ord  sparks,  the 
rod  drawing  fire  to  him  from  a  cloud.  If  any  danger  to  the  man 
should  be  apprehended  (though  I  think  there  would  be  none),  let 
him  stand  on  the  floor  of  his  box,  and  now  and  then  bring  near  to 
the  rod  the  loop  of  a  wire  that  has  one  end  fastened  to  the  leads, 
he  holding  it  by  a  wax  handle  ;  so  the  sparks,  if  the  rod  is  electri- 
fied, will  strike  from  the  rod  to  the  wire,  and  not  affect  Mm." 
.  The  reader  may  be  interested  to  know  by  what  steps  Franklin 
arrived  at  his  lightning  hypothesis.  A  friend  in  South  Carolina 
once  asked  him  how  he  came  to  hit  upoi>  such  an  "  out-of-the-way" 
idea.  His  reply  was :  "  I  cannot  answer  your  question  better  than 
by  giving  you  an  extract  from  the  minutes  I  used  to  keep  of  the 
experiments  I  made.  *  *  By  this  extract  you  will  see 
that  the  thought  was  not  so  much  an  out-of-the-way  one  but  that 
it  might  have  occurred  to  an  electrican."  The  extract,*  dated  No- 
vember 7th,  1749,  was  as  follows:  "Electrical  fluid  agrees  with 
lightning  in  these  particulars :  1 .  Giving  light.  2.  Color  of  the 
light.  3.  Crooked  direction.  4.  Swift  motion.  5.  Being  conducted 
by  metals.  6.  Crack  or  noise  in  exploding.  7.  Subsisting  in  water 
or  ice.  8.  Rending  bodies  it  passes  through.  9.  Destroying  animals. 
10.  Melting  metals.  11.  Firing  inflammable  substances.  12.  Sul- 
phureous smell.  The  electric  fluid  is  attracted  by  points.  We  do 
not  know  whether  this  property  is  in  lightning.  But  since  they 
agree  in  all  the  particulars  wherein  we  can  already  compare  them, 

*  Frankliii  to  John  Lining,  1755.    Sparks,  v.,  351. 


AGED    44.]  FRANKLIN   AND    ELECTRICITY.  287 

is  it  not  probable  they  agree  likewise  in  this  ?  Let  the  experiment 
be  made." 

In  this  discovery,  therefore,  there  was  nothing  of  chance  ;  it  was 
a  legitimatQ  deduction  from  patiently  accumulated  facts.  In  this 
respect  it  resembled  Newton's  detection  of  the  law  of  gravitation, 
'Mt'^wGlTtEis  ctifference :  Newton  inherited  from  Galileo,  KepleF, 
and  others,  all  but  the  oiie  sublime  inference  that  makes  him  im- 
mortal ;  while  Franklin  accumulated  his  facts,  originated  his  infer- 
ence, and  finally  established  its  truth  by  an  irresistible  experiment. 
Kot  that  the  two  discoveries  were  of  equal  importance.  By  no 
means.  Newton's  discovery  was,  beyond  doubt,  the  most  sublime 
and  most  beneficial  act  ever  done  by  a  human  mind. 

The  paper  containing  the  passages  just  quoted,  and  a  world  of 
other  electric  matter  only  less  interesting  than  these,  was  sent  to 
Mr.  Collinson  in  July,  1750,  with  a  request  that  he  would  communi- 
cate its  contents  to  "our  honorable  Proprietary,"  whose  "generous 
present  of  a  complete  electrical  apparatus,  has  enabled  us  to  carry 
those  experhnents  to  a  greater  height."  "If  it  happens,"  said 
Franklin,  "  to  bring  you  nothing  new  (which  may  well  be,  consid- 
ering the  number  of  ingenious  men  in  Europe,  continually  engaged 
in  the  same  researches),  at  least  it  will  show,  that  the  instruments 
put  into  our  hands  are  not  neglected ;  and  that,  if  no  valuable  dis- 
coveries are  made  by  us,  whatever  the  cause  may  be,  it  is  not  want 
of  industry  and  application." 

The  fourth  season  of  Franklin's  electrical  experiments  was  marked 
by  nothing  more  interesting  than  an  accident  which  has  since  be- 
fallen many  careless  operators.  He  was  about  to  kill  a  turkey  by 
an  electric  shock,  one  day,  for  the  amusement  of  some  friends,  and, 
for  that  purpose,  had  charged  two  jars,  each  holding  six  gallons. 
Inadvertently,  while  talking  with  the  company,  he  took  the  shock 
himself. 

"  The  flash,"  he  wrote,  "  was  very  great,  and  the  crack  as  loud 
as  a  pistol ;  yet,  my  senses  being  instantly  gone,  I  neither  saw  the 
one  nor  heard  the  other ;  nor  did  I  feel  the  stroke  on  my  hand, 
though  I  afterwards  found  it  raised  a  round  swelling  where  the  fire 
entered,  as  big  as  half  a  pistol-bullet ;  by  which  you  may  judge  of 
the  quickness  of  the  electrical  fire,  which  by  this  instance  seems  to 
be  greater  than  that  of  sound,  light,  or  animal  sensation.  *  *  * 
I  tlien  felt  what  I  know  not  how  well  to  describe,  a  universal  blow 


288  LIFE   AND   lULES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKXIN.  [1*752. 

throughout  my  whole  body  from  head  to  foot,  which  seemed  within 
as  well  as  without ;  after  which  the  lirst  thing  I  took  notice  of  was 
a  violent  quick  shaking  of  my  body,  A\^hich  gradually  remitting,  my 
sense  as  gradually  returned,  and  then  I  thought  the  bottles  must 
be  discharged,  but  could  not  conceive  how,  till  at  last  I  perceived 
the  chain  in  my  hand,  and  recollected  what  I  had  been  about  to  do. 
That  part  of  my  hand  and  fingers  which  held  the  chain,  was  left 
white,  as  though  the  blood  had  been  driven  out,  and  remained  so 
eight  or  ten  minutes  after,  feeling  like  dead  flesh ;  and  I  had  a  numb- 
ness in  my  arms  and  the  back  of  my  neck,  which  continued  till  the 
next  morning,  but  wore  off.  Nothing  remains  now  of  this  shock 
but  a  soreness  in  my  breast-bone,  which  feels  as  if  it  had  been 
bruised.  I  did  not  fall,  but  suppose  I  should  have  been  knocked 
down  if  I  had  received  the  stroke  in  my  head.  The  whole  was 
over  in  less  than  a  minute." 

He  cautions  his  correspondent  not  to  make  public  "  so  notorious 
a  blunder,"  which  he  compares  with  that  of  the  Irishman  who, 
being  about  to  steal  gunpowder,  made  a  hole  in  the  cask  with  a 
red-hot  poker.  Afterwards  he  knocked  down  six  men  by  an  elec- 
tric shock,  the  men  submitting  themselves  to  the  experiment  for  the 
sake  of  science.  On  another  occasion,  while  preparing  to  give  a 
shock  to  a  paralytic  patient,  he  accidentally  received  an  immense 
charge  through  his  own  head.  He  neither  saw  the  flash,  heard  the 
report,  nor  felt  the  stroke.  "  When  my  senses  returned,"  he  says, 
*'  I  found  myself  on  the  floor.  I  got  up,  not  knowing  how  that  had 
happened.  I  then  again  attempted  to  discharge  the  jars ;  but  one 
of  the  company  told  me  they  were  already  discharged,  which  I 
could  not  at  first  believe,  but  on  trial  found  it  true.  They  told  me 
they  had  not  felt  it,  but  they  saw  I  was  knocked  down  by  it,  which 
had  greatly  surprised  them.  On  recollecting  myself,  and  examin- 
ing my  situation,  I  found  the  case  clear.  A  small  swelling  rose  on 
the  top  of  my  head,  which  continued  sore  for  some  days ;  but  I  do 
not  retnember  any  other  effect,  good  or  bad." 

Such  accidents  as  these  came  to  be  regarded  by  the  enthusiastic 
electricians  of  that  day  as  soldiers  regard  wounds  received  in  bat- 
tle. Even  the  moderate  Dr.  Priestley  alludes  to  a  professor,  wiio 
lost  his  life  in  an  electrical  experiment,  as  "  the  justly  envied  Rich- 
man."* 

*  Priestley's  "History  of  Electricity^'  p.  83. 


AGED    46.]  FEANKLIN   AND   ELECTKICITY.  289 

And  SO  these  busy,  honorable  years  passed  on.  When  the  spring 
of  1752  came,  six  years  had  elapsed  since  Franklin  first  rubbed  an 
electrical  tube.  The  leisure  of  six  winters  had  been  devoted  to 
electrical  experiments.  Nearly  three  years  had  rolled  away  since 
he  had  suggested,  in  his  private  diary,  a  mode  of  ascertaining 
whether  lightning  and  electricity  were  really  the  same ;  and  yet 
such  an  experiment  had  never  been  attempted.  The  country  about 
Philadelphia  presents  no  eminence  which  he  then  thought  high 
enough  for  the  purpose  ;  for  he  was  not  aware  till  afterwards,  that 
the  roof  of  any  common  dwelling-house  would  have  answered  as 
well  as  the  Peak  of  TenerifFe.  At  that  time,  not  a  steeple  pierced 
the  sky  in  all  the  extent  of  the  Quaker  City,  and  probably  there  was 
not  one  in  Pennsylvania.  The  vestry  of  Christ  Church,  now  the 
venerable  relic  of  the  olden  time  in  Philadelphia,  were  then  contem- 
plating the  erection  of  a  steeple ;  but  the  project  had  been  hindered 
by  the  war,  and  it  was  not  begun  till  1753.  The  bell  of  this  church 
had  been  originally  hung  from  the  branch  of  a  tree  near  the  first 
rude  edifice  constructed  by  Episcopalians  in  Pennsylvania.  For 
tlie  erection  of  Christ  Church  steeple  Franklin  had  been  impatiently 
waiting,  hoping  to  be  able  on  its  summit  to  bring  his  bold  hypothe- 
sis to  the  test  of  a  decisive  experiment.  But  the  steeple  rose  not.* 
And  if  it  had,  could  there  then  have  been  found,  anywhere  in  the 
world,  a  vestry  that  would  have  lent  their  steeple  to  a  philosopher 
bent  on  drawing  down  the  very  lightning  from  heaven,  that  he 
might  try  conclusions  with  it  ? 

It  was  in  the  spring  of  1752  that  Franklin  thought  of  trying  the 
experiment  with  a  kite ;  and  it  was  during  one  of  the  June  thun- 
der-storms of  that  year,  that  the  immortal  kite  was  flown. 

Who  does  not  know  the  story  ?  How  he  made  his  kite  of  a  large 
silk  handkerchief,  and  fastened  to  the  top  of  the  perpendicular  stick 
a  piece  of  sharpened  iron-wire.  How  he  stole  away,  upon  the  ap- 
proacii  of  a  storm,  into  the  commons  not  far  from  his  own  house, 

*  "Lotteries,  which  are  uow  in  such  deservedly  bad  odor,  were  often  resorted  to  in  the  olden 
times  for  very  worthy  purposes;  and  even  the  first  Episcopal  church  established  upon  the  soil 
of  Pennsylvania,  availed  itself  of  this  mode  of  procuring  the  needful  funds.  The  lottery  estab- 
lished by  Christ  Church,  in  1752,  was  for  finishing  the  steeple  and  furnishing  a  set  of  bells.  The 
managers  of  this  lottery  were,  Thomas  Lawrence,  sen.,  Abraham  Taylor,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Charles  Stedman,  John  Kearsley,  sen.,  Henry  Harrison,  James  Humphreys,  Joseph  Eedman, 
Evan  Morgan,  Thomas  Leech,  Henry  Elwes,  John  Banyton,  and  Jacob  Duche.  The  amount 
raised  by  lotteries  and  subscriptions  was  £3,162  9s.  lid.  The  last  Christ  Church  Lottery  drew, 
June,  1753." — 27.  Y.  HiHtorical  Magazine. 

13 


290  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1752. 

say  about  tba  corner  of  Race  and  Eighth  streets,  near  a  spot  where 
there  wa^  an  old  cow-shed.  How,  wishing  to  avoid  the  ridicule  of 
possible  failure,  he  told  no  one  what  he  was  going  to  do,  except  his 
son,  who  accompanied  him,  and  who  was  then  not  the  small  boy  he 
is  represented  in  a  hundred  pictures,  but  a  braw  lad  of  twenty-two, 
one  of  the  beaux  of  Philadelphia.  How  the  kite  was  raised  in 
time  for  the  coming  gust,  the  string  being  hempen,  except  the  part 
held  in  the  hand,  which  was  silk.  How,  at  the  termination  of  the 
hempen  string  a  common  key  w^as  fastened ;  and  in  the  shed  was 
deposited  a  Leyden  bottle,  in  which  to  collect  from  the  clouds,  if 
the  clouds  should  prove  to  contain  it,  the  material  requisite  for  an 
electric  shock.  How  father  and  son  stood  for  some  time  under 
the  shed,  presenting  the  spectacle,  if  there  had  been  any  one  to 
behold  it,  of  two  escaped  lunatics  flying  a  kite  in  the  rain ;  the 
young  gentleman,  no  doubt,  feeling  a  little  foolish.  How,  at  last, 
w^hen  a  thunder-cloud  appeared  to  pass  directly  over  the  kite,  and 
yet  no  sign  of  electricity  appeared,  the  hopes  of  the  father,  too, 
began  to  grow  faint.  How,  when  both  were  ready  to  despair  of 
success,  Franklin's  heart  stood  still,  as  he  suddenly  observed  the 
fibres  of  the  hempen  string  to  rise,  as  a  boy's  hair  rises  when  he 
stands  on  the  insulating  stool.  How,  with  eager,  trembling  hand, 
he  applied  his  knuckle  to  the  key  and  drew  therefrom  an  unmis- 
takable spark,  and  another  and  another,  and  as  many  as  he  chose. 
How  the  Leyden  phial  was  charged,  and  both  received  the  most 
thrilling  shock  ever  experienced  by  man  ;  a  shock  that  might  have 
been  figuratively  styled  electric,  if  electric  it  had  not  really  been. 
How,  the  wet  kite  being  drawn  in,  and  the  apparatus  packed,  the 
philosopher  went  home  exulting — the  happiest  philosopher  in 
Christendom. 

And  this  was  only  the  beginning  of  triumph.  The  next  ships 
that  arrived  from  the  old  world,  brought  him  the  news  that  the 
same  experiment,  in  the  mode  originally  suggested  by  him  of  erect- 
ing an  iron  rod  upon  an  eminence,  had  been  successfully  performed 
in  France,  so  that  his  name  had  suddenly  become  one  of  the  most 
famous  in  Europe.  How  this  came  to  pass  we  must  now  briefly 
relate. 

Just  that  fate  befell  Franklin's  letters  which  has  befallen  nearly 
all  of  the  tnost  successful  publications  that  have  appeared  from  the 
press.     Mr.  Peter  CoUinson  caused  them  to  be  read,  from  time  to 


AGED    46.]  FRANKLIN   AND   ELECTRICITY.  291 

time,  to  the  Royal  Society,  of  which  he  was  a  member.  That 
learned  body  did  not  think  them  worthy  of  being  published  in  their 
transactions,  and  a  letter  of  Franklin's,  containing  the  substance 
of  his  opinions  and  conjectures  respecting  lighting,  was  laughed 
at.  So  the  letters  accumulated  in  Mr.  Collinson's  hands  for 
the  space  of  four  years,  from  1747  to  1751,  and  Franklin  only 
heard  of  them  that  Watson,  and  other  English  experimenters,  dis- 
sented from  some  of  his  positions.  At  length,  in  the  autumn  of 
1750,  arrived  Franklin's  great  paper,  containing  a  complete  state- 
ment of  his  opinions  and  conjectures  respecting  the  identity  of 
lightning  with  the  electricity  excited  by  artificial  means.  Mr.  Col- 
linson,  being  moved  thereto  by  that  man  of  blessed  memory,  the 
good  Dr.  Fotheigill,  then  resolved  that  writings  so  remarkable 
should  not  be  lost  to  mankind.  Cave — Johnson's  Cave,  Sylvanus 
Urban — was  then  flourishing  in  London,  and  to  him  the  letters  were 
offered  for  publication  in  the  Gentlemen's  Magazine.  Cave  saw 
their  value.  He  declined  them  for  his  darling  Magazine,  but  issued 
them  in  a  large  pamphlet,  to  which  Dr.  Fothergill  contributed  a 
preface.  The  pamphlet  was  entitled  "New  Experiments  and  Ob- 
servations in  Electricity,  made  at  Philadelphia,  in  America."  It 
appeared  in  May,  1751. 

It  is  scarcely  true  to  say,  as  has  been  often  said,  that  this  pamph- 
let attracted  little  attention  in  England,  until  it  had  attained  a  con- 
tinental celebrity.  A  copy  being  presented  to  the  Royal  Society, 
Sir  William  Watson  was  requested  to  prepare  an  abstract  of  its 
contents ;  which  he  performed,  giving  generous  praise  to  the  trans- 
Atlantic  philosopher.  He  spoke  of  Franklin  as  an  able  and  ingen- 
ious man,  who  had  a  head  to  conceive  and  a  hand  to  execute,  and  who 
knew  as  much  of  electricity  as  any  one  in  the  world.  Nevertheless, 
it  was  France  that  first  appreciated  all  the  greatness  of  Franklin's 
electrical  observations,  and  French  philosophers  who  first  attempted 
the  experiment  of  drawing  electricity  from  the  clouds.  By  a  most 
happy  chance,  a  copy  of  Cave's  publication  fell  into  the  hands  of 
the  Count  de  Buffon,  whose  early  familiarity  with  the  English 
language  enabled  him,  at  once,  to  perceive  that  he  was  reading  the 
work  of  a  master.  He  induced  M.  Dubourg  to  translate  the  letters 
into  French,  and  they  appeared  in  the  course  of  the  summer  in  Paris. 

The  work,  published  under  such  auspices,  the  Count  de  Buffon 
being  then  one  of  the  most  renowned,  as  well  as  the  most  socially 


292  LIFE   AND   TIMES  OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1752. 

influential,  of  European  philosophers,  had  every  kind  of  success 
that  a  publication  can  have.  It  had  a  great  sale.  It  was  translated 
soon  into  German,  Italian,  and  Latin.  King  Louis  XV.,  hearing  of 
these  new  marvels,  ordered  a  course  of  the  electrical  experiments 
described  by  Franklin  to  be  performed  in  his  presence,  and  directed 
a  letter  to  be  written  to  the  Royal  Society  of  London,  expressing 
the  king's  admiration  of  Mr.  Franklin's  ingenuity  and  learning. 
The  Abbe  Nollet,  preceptor  in  Natural  Philosophy  to  the  Royal 
Family,  gave  the  work  additional  eclat,  by  attempting  to  confute 
Franklin's  theory  of  electricity.  At  first,  the  worthy  Abbe  could 
not  be  made  to  believe  that  there  was  such  a  person  as  Mr.  Frank- 
lin of  Philadelphia^  assuming  that  the  letters  were  written  by  some 
of  his  enemies  in  Paris,  for  the  purpose  of  robbing  him  of  his  elec- 
trical reputation.  Being  convinced,  at  length,  that  such  an  indi- 
vidual as  Franklin  really  existed,  he  addressed  to  him  a  series  of 
letters,  in  which  he  sought  to  show  that  the  electrical  phenomena 
ought  to  be  interpreted  according  to  NoUet,  and  not  according  to 
Franklin ;  that  is,  according  to  the  afflux-and-efflux  theory,  instead 
of  the  positive-and-negative  system.  The  French  Savans  sided, 
however,  with  the  Philadelphian,  and  the  Abbe  ]N"ollet  lived  to  see 
his  followers  reduced  to  a  single  disciple. 

But  what  raised  the  reputation  of  Franklin  to  the  highest  point, 
was  the  verification  in  France  of  his  conjecture  respecting  the 
sameness  of  lightning  and  electricity.  Three  French  philosophers, 
the  Count  de  Buffon,  M.  Dalibard,  and  M.  de  Lor,  erected  upon 
difierent  heights  the  apparatus  suggested  by  Franklin  for  drawing 
electricity  from  the  clouds.  M.  Dalibard  was  first  successful.  On 
the  tenth  of  May,  1752,  a  month  before  Franklin  flew  his  kite,  the 
pointed  rod  erected  by  M.  Dalibard  drew  from  a  thunder-cloud 
electricity  enough  to  afford  a  complete  demonstration  of  the  correct- 
ness of  Franklin's  hypothesis.  M.  de  Lor  succeeded  a  few  days 
later ;  the  Count  de  Buffon  ere  long ;  and  before  the  summer  was 
ended,  the  philosophers  of  every  country  in  Europe  were  employed 
in  repeating  the  experiment.  At  St.  Petersburg,  Professor  Richman, 
the  "justly  envied,"  entered  upon  a  course  of  splendid  and  daring 
investigation,  and  brought  from  the  clouds,  at  length,  such  quantities 
of  the  electric  fluid,  that  a  chance  shock  struck  him  dead,  and  his 
body  was  found  in  the  midst  of  his  apparatus,  like  an  artilleryman 
dead  under  the  wreck  of  his  gun. 


AGED   40.]  FEAXBXrsr  AND   ELECTRICITY.  '         293 

The  naniG  of  Franklin  became  at  once  familiar  to  every  reading 
person  in  Europe,  and  his  letters  were  universally  admired  for  their 
fullness  of  matter,  their  clearness  of  style,  their  modesty  of  tone. 
There  was  something  in  the  conception  of  drawing  down,  for  mere 
experiment,  the  dread  electricity  of  heaven,  that  appealed  not  less 
powerfully  to  the  understanding  of  the  learned  than  to  the  imagin- 
ation of  the  ignorant ;  and  the  marvel  was  the  greater  that  the  bold 
idea  should  have  originated  in  a  place  so  remote  and  so  little  known 
as  Philadelphia.  The  Royal  Society  soon  learned  the  worth  of 
Franklin's  electrical  writings,  now  that  all  mankind  knew  it.  By  a 
unanimous  vote  he  was  elected  a  member  of  that  distinguished 
body,  who  also  remitted,  in  his  case,  the  usual  initiation  fee  of  five 
guineas,  as  well  as  the  regular  annual  charge  of  two  guineas  and  a 
half.  The  next  year  they  bestowed  upon  hira,  with  every  honor- 
able circumstance,  the  Copley  medal.  Yale  College  first,  then  Har- 
vard, conferred  upon  him  the  honorary  degree  of  master  of  arts. 

It  is  a  proof  of  the  progress  that  had  been  made  by  man  and  truth 
in  1V52,  that  Franklin's  audacious  playing  with  the  lightnings,  and 
his  proposal  to  render  harmless  the  "  thunderbolt,"  excited  so  little 
opposition  from  those  who  held  erroneous  opinions  respecting  re- 
ligion, which  opinions  are  felt  to  be  in  new  peril  whenever  the 
sum  of  scientific  knowledge  is  increased  by  a  great  discovery.  The 
opposition  was  considerable,  it  is  true,  but  unimportant  compared 
with  that  which  the  ancient  heroes  of  science  had  to  encounter ;  nor 
much  more  serious  than  recent  discoveries  in  geology  have  provoked. 
Always  there  have  been  persons  who  have  derived  from  religion 
vast  revenues,  who,  at  the  same  time,  have  had  no  faith  in  religion. 
Such  were  they  who  silenced  Galileo,  and  accused  Newton,  and 
denounced  lightning-rods,  and  sought  to  prevent  Sir  Charles  Lyell 
from  lecturing  on  geology,  and  prosecuted  the  writers  of  Essays  and 
Reviews.  These  ignorant  and  dismal  persons  are  ever  afraid  that 
advancing  science  may  render  some  item  of  their  creed  less  tenable 
than  it  was  before.  Franklin's  partial  explanation  of  lightning,  too, 
lessened  their  means  of  exciting  terror,  and  terror  is  the  sole  source 
and  secret  of  their  influence.  And  here  is  just  the  difference  be- 
tween the  false  priest  and  the  true  minister :  the  one  relying  on  fear, 
the  other  on  truth;  the  one  being  truth's  natural  foe,  tlie  other 
truth's  first  and  fastest  friend. 

iS'ot  one  step  forward  has  science  ever  been  permitted  to  make 


294  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l752. 

without  opposition  from  those  who  had  an  interest  in  some  obstruct- 
ing orthodoxy.  We  all  know  how  the  last  years  of  Sir  Isaac  N'ew- 
ton  were  perplexed  by  the  charge  that  his  philosophy  of  gravitation 
tended  to  "  materialize"  religion,  and  how  the  Princess  of  Wales 
asked  him  to  reply  to  the  accusation.  Insuring  houses  against  fire 
was  denounced  as  an  interference  with  the  prerogatives  of  Deity. 
The  establishment  of  the  Royal  Society  (perhaps  the  most  useful 
organization  of  modern  times)  was  opposed  on  the  ground  that 
accustoming  the  mind  to  rely  on  experimental  evidence  tended  to 
weaken  the  force  of  evidence  not  founded  on  experiment ;  and  this 
objection  was  deemed  important  enough  to  call  for  a  reply  from  the 
pen  of  a  bishop.*  Could  the  new  electrical  theories,  then,  escape 
animadversion  ?  Impossible.  Accordingly  we  find  that  the  ques- 
tion respecting  the  impiety  of  lightning-rods  was  discussed  in  all 
countries,  and  occasionally  with  much  acrimony.  John  Adams,  in 
the  diary  kept  by  him  when  he  was  a  young  schoolmaster  and  law- 
student,  mentions  a  doctor  who  was  wont  to  "  preach  upon  the  pre- 
sumption of  philosophy  in  erecting  iron-rods  to  draw  the  lightmng 
from  the  clouds ;"  and  who  would  even  "  rail  and  foam  against 
them"  as  an  impious  attempt  "  to  control  the  artilleiy  of  Heaven." 
And  Mr.  Ebenezer  Kinnersley,  I  notice,  who  spent  several  years 
in  lecturing  upon  electricity,  when  advertising  the  outline  of  his 
lectures,  always  announced  his  intention  to  show  that  the  erection 
of  lightning-rods  was  "not  chargeable  with  presumption,  nor  in- 
consistent with  any  of  the  principles  either  of  natural  or  revealed 
religion." 

Mr.  Quilicy  tells  us,  in  his  History  of  Harvard  College,  that  in  No- 
vember, 1 755,  a  shock  of  an  earthquake  was  felt  in  New  England,  and 
that  a  Boston  clergyman  preached  a  sermon  on  the  subject,  in  which 
he  contended  that  the  lightning-rods,  by  accumulating  the  electricity 
in  the  earth,  had  caused  the  earthquake.  Professor  Winthrop,  of 
Harvard,  thought  it  well  to  refute  this  position  and  to  defend 
Franklin.  In  1770,  Mr.  Quincy  adds,  another  Boston  clergyman 
opposed  the  use  of  the  rods  on  the  ground  that,  as  the  lightning 
was  one  of  the  means  of  punishing  the  sins  of  mankind,  and  of  warn- 
ing them  from  the  commission  of  sin,  it  wns  impious  "  to  prevent 
its  full  execution."  To  this,  also,  Professor  Winthrop  deemed  it 
worth  v/hile  to  reply. f 

*  ''Encyclopedia  Britannica,"  xiv.,  461.  +  "History  of  Harvard  College,"  ii.,  219. 


AGED    46.]  FRANKLIN    AND    ELECTRICITY.  295 

But,  happily,  these  irreligious  objections  were  not  serious  obsta- 
cles to  the  spread  of  scientific  truth  in  Franklin's  day ;  and  he 
found  himself  the  object  of  nearly  universal  applause.  Franklin 
himself  says  in  one  of  his  letters  :  "  It  is  well  Ave  are  not,  as  poor 
Galileo  was,  subjected  to  the  inquisition  for  philosophical  heresy." 

It  is  pleasing  to  observe  how  he  bore  his  sudden  celebrity.  He 
took  it  quietly  enough.  It  was  in  June  that  he  and  his  son  had 
gone  out  on  the  common  and  flown  their  electrical  kite.  Not  many 
days  after,  arrived  tidings  of  the  success  of  M.  Dalibard  in  France. 
But  it  was  not  until  October  that  Franklin  sent  to  Mr.  Collinson 
any  account  whatever  of  the  electrical  kite,  and  even  then  he  de- 
scribed the  manner  of  making  and  flying  the  kite,  without  so  much 
as  alhiding  to  his  own  brilliant  exploit  with  one.  This  reticence 
was  in  accordance  with  his  custom  of  not  transmitting  to  London 
any  experiment  or  observation  which  he  had  reason  to  believe  was 
not  nev/.  The  identity  of  lightning  and  electricity  having  been 
established  by  M.  Dalibard,  he  deemed  it  unnecessary  to  forward 
the  narration  of  an  experiment  which,  however  brilliant,  had  been 
rendered  unnecessary.  Accordingly,  we  have  no  narrative  of  the 
flying  of  the  kite  by  Franklin  himself.  We  owe  our  knowledge  of 
what  occurred  on  that  memorable  afternoon,  to  two  persons  who 
heard  Franklin  tell  the  story,  namely,  Dr.  Stuber,  of  Philadelphia, 
and  the  English  Dr.  Priestley.  Franklin  prefaces  his  description  of 
the  electrical  kite  with  these  simple  words  :  "  As  frequent  mention 
is  made  in  public  papers  from  Europe,  of  the  success  of  the  Phila- 
delphia experiment  for  drawing  the  electric  fire  from  clouds  by 
means  of  pointed  rods  of  iron  erected  on  high  buildings,  it  may  be 
agreeable  to  the  curious  to  be  informed,  that  the  same  experiment 
has  succeeded  in  Philadelphia,  though  made  in  a  different  and  more 
easy  manner,  which  is  as  follows."  Then  follows  the  description 
of  the  kite ;  and  the  letter  concludes  without  a  reference  to  what  he 
had  himself  done  with  the  kite. 

Franklin,  however,  was  too  healthy-minded  and  too  modest  a 
man  not  to  take  pleasure  in  his  new  fame.  "  The  Tatler,''''  he  wrote 
in  1753,  to  one  of  his  Boston  friends,  "tells  us  of  a  girl  who  was 
observed  to  grow  suddenly  proud,  and  none  could  guess  the  reason, 
till  it  came  to  be  known  that  she  had  got  on  a  pair  of  new  silk  gar- 
ters. Lest  you  should  be  puzzled  to  guess  the  cause,  when  you 
observe  any  thing  of  the  kind  in  me,  I  think  I  will  not  hide  my 


296  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l752. 

new  garters  under  my  petticoats,  but  take  the  freedom  to  show 
them  to  you,  in  a  paragrapli  of  our  friend  Collinson's  last  letter, 

viz. But  I  ought  to  mortify,  and  not  indulge,  tliis  vanity  ;  I  will 

not  transcribe  the  paragraph,  yet  I  cannot  forbear."  He  then 
quotes  the  paragraph,  which  alludes  to  the  honor  done  him  by  the 
King  of  France,  and  the  attention  bestowed  on  his  discoveries  in 
the  Royal  Society. 

He  continued  his  electrical  studies;  no  longer  pausing  during 
the  summer  heats,  but  using  then,  for  his  own  purposes,  the  ex- 
haustless  electricity  of  the  clouds.  He  grew  familiar  with  the 
lightning,  and  brought  it  down  into  his  library  for  constant  ex- 
amination. "In  September,  1752,"  he  wrote  to  Peter  Collinson, 
"  I  erected  an  iron  rod  to  draw  the  lightning  down  into  my  house, 
in  order  to  make  some  experiments  on  it,  with  two  bells  to  give 
notice  when  the  rod  should  be  electrified ;  a  contrivance  obvious  to 
every  electrician.  I  found  the  bells  rang  sometimes  when  there 
was  no  lightning  or  thunder,  but  only  a  dark  cloud  over  the  rod ; 
that  sometimes,  after  a  flash  of  lightning,  they  would  suddenly 
stop;  and  at  other  times,  when  they  had  not  rung  before,  they 
would,  after  a  flash,  suddenly  begin  to  ring ;  that  the  electricity 
was  sometimes  very  faint,  so  that  when  a  small  spark  was  obtained, 
another  could  not  be  got  for  some  time  after ;  at  other  times  the 
sparks  would  follow  extremely  quick,  and  once  I  had  a  continual 
stream  from  bell  to  bell,  the  size  of  a  crow-quill ;  even  during  the 
same  gust  there  were  considerable  variations.  In  the  winter  fol- 
lowing I  conceived  an  experiment,  to  try  whether  the  clouds  were 
electrified  positively  or  negatively T 

And  after  a  long  series  of  experiments,  he  had  the  delight  of  es- 
tablishing the  unexpected  truth,  that  thunder-clouds  are  usually  in 
a  negative  state  of  electricity;  and  that,  consequently,  it  is  the 
earth  that  strikes  into  the  clouds,  not  the  clouds  the  earth. 

But  we  cannot  continue  these  details.  For  twenty  years  Frank- 
lin was  an  ardent  electrician,  and  the  leisure  of  seven  of  those 
years  was  devoted  nlmost  exclusively  to  the  subject.  He  subjected 
electricity  to  every  test  and  every  influence  that  the  most  fertile 
brain  in  the  world  could  suggest.  He  tried  it  upon  magnets.  He 
tried  it  in  vacuo.  He  tried  it  upon  the  sick  and  upon  the  well; 
upon  animals  and  men.  The  electricity  excited  by  friction,  the 
electricity  drawn  from  the  clouds,  the  electricity  generated  in  the 


AGED   46.]  FEANKUN   AND   ELECTEICITY.  297 

cold  and  glittering  winter  nights,  the  electricity  of  the  electric  eel, 
were  all  observed  and  compared.  He  became  the  acknowledged 
head  of  the  electricians  of  the  world.  He  had  electrical  corre- 
spondents in  many  countries.  Masters  of  ships,  who  encounter- 
ed remarkable  thunder-storms,  would  send  narratives  of  what 
they  had  seen  to  Mr.  Franklin,  of  Philadelphia.  By  very  slow  de- 
grees lightning-rods  made  their  way  :*  it  was  ten  years  before  their 
use  became  general  in  the  colonies,  and  twenty  years  before  they 
w^ere  common  in  England.  Franklin's  house  was  a  museum  of 
electrical  apparatus,  and  ladies  who  visited  him,  it  is  said,  were 
sometimes  terribly  frightened  at  the  sudden,  and  apparently  cause- 
less, ringing  of  his  electric  bells.  Mr.  D'Israeli  picked  up  an  an- 
ecdote of  Franklin  and  electricity,  for  his  Curiosities  of  Literature, 
which  is,  doubtless,  as  true  as  many  other  narratives  in  that  amus- 
ing collection  :  "  Franklin,  finding  that  the  idlers  of  the  street  were 
too  fond  of  coming  to  a  halt  under  one  of  his  windows,  charged  the 
railing  with  his  newly-discovered  electric  fire."  Remarkable  inci- 
dents occurred,  adds  the  author,  which  at  a  former  period  would 
have  lodged  'the  great  discoverer  of  electricity'  in  the  Inquisi- 
tion, f 

Franklin  had  the  happiness  to  escape  those  bitter  contentions 
with  rivals,  which  have  so  often  destroyed  the  peace  of  discoverers. 
Indeed,  how  could  any  one  quarrel  with  a  man  who  claimed  noth- 
ing, who  mentioned  with  honor  everybody's  achievements  but 
his  own,  and  who  recorded  his  most  brilliant  observations  in  the 
first  person  plural,  as  though  he  were  but  one  of  a  crowd  of  phi- 
losophic Philadelphians  ?     Nor  was  the  harmony  of  the  circle  of 

*  The  following  (written  apparently  hy  Franklin)  appeared  in  Poor  Richard's  Almanac,  for 
1753: 

'■'■  Bow  to  secure  Houses,  <£;c.,from  Lightning. — It  has  pleased  God  in  his  Goodness  to  Man- 
kind, at  length  to  discover  to  them  the  Means  of  securing  their  Habitations  and  other  Buildings 
from  Mischief  by  Thunder  and  Lightning.  The  Method  is  this :  Provide  a  small  Iron  Eod  (it 
may  be  made  of  the  Rod-iron  used  by  Nailers),  but  of  such  a  length,  that  one  End  being  three  or 
four  Feet  in  the  moist  Ground,  the  other  may  be  six  or  eight  Feet  above  the  highest  part  of  the 
Building.  To  the  upper  End  of  the  Rod  fasten  about  a  foot  of  Brass  Wire,  the  size  of  a  common 
Knitting-needle,  Sharpened  to  a  fine  Point ;  the  Eod  m&f  be  secured  in  the  House  by  a  few  small 
Staples.  If  the  House  or  Barn  be  long,  there  may  be  a  Rod  and  Point  at  each  End,  and  a  mid- 
dling Wire  along  the  Ridge  from  one  to  the  other.  A  House  thus  furnished  will  not  be  damaged 
by  Lightning,  it  being  attracted  by  the  Points,  and  passing  through  the  Metal  into  the  Ground 
without  hurting  any  Thing.  Vessels  also  having  a  sharp  pointed  Rod  flx'd  on  the  top  of  their 
Masts,  with  a  Wire  from  the  Foot  of  the  Eod  reaching  down,  roimd  one  of  the  Shrouds,  to  the 
Water,  will  not  be  hurt  by  Lightning." 

t Curiosities  of  Literature,  iv.,  IFk 
13* 


298  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l752. 

his  own  co-operators  ever  disturbed.  Observe  the  manner  in  which 
the  amiable  Kinnersley  writes  to  his  Master  in  Science,  after  four- 
teen years  of  electrical  fellowsliip.  He  sent  Franklin  the  drawing 
of  a  piece  of  lightning-conductor  melted  by  a  flash,  which,  he  says  : 
"  I  lo77(/  for  the  pleasure  of  showing  you  ;"  inasmuch  as  he  deemed 
it  a  proof  that  the  rod  had  saved  the  house  from  being  struck. 
Then  the  generous  disciple  breaks  forth  :  "  And  now,  sir,  I  most 
heartily  congratulate  you  on  the  pleasure  you  must  have,  in  finding 
your  great  and  well-grounded  expectations  so  far  fulfilled.  May 
this  method  of  security  from  the  destructive  violence  of  one  of  the 
most  awful  powers  of  nature,  meet  with  such  further  success,  as  to 
induce  every  good  and  grateful  heart  to  bless  God  for  the  impor- 
tant discovery  !  May  the  benefit  thereof  be  diffused  over  the  whole 
globe !  May  it  extend  to  the  latest  posterity  of  mankind,  and 
make  the  name  of  Franklin,  like  that  of  Kewton,  immortal.''' 

Time,  I  believe,  has  not  diminished  the  importance  of  Franklin's 
electrical  writings,  since  he  struck  the  right  path  and  went  in  the 
right  direction,  as  far  as  he  went  at  all.  Recent  electricians  are  of 
opinion  that  the  lightning-rod  has  either  been  overvalued,  or  has 
not  yet  been  arranged  in  the  best  manner.  But  the  lightning-rod 
was  a  daring  and  sublime  application  of  truth,  which  would  com- 
mand our  admiration,  if  it  should  prove  to  be  of  little  utility. 

Franklin  was  the  man  of  all  others  then  alive  who  possessed,  iu 
the  greatest  perfection,  the  four  grand  requisites  for  the  successful 
observation  of  nature  or  the  pursuit  of  literature :  a  sound  and  great 
understanding;  patience;  dexterity;  and  an  independent  income. 
Having  these  qualities  and  advantages,  living  too  in  an  age  that 
delighted  to  bestow  honor  upon  men  of  science,  and  his  attention 
having  been  drawn  to  a  branch  in  which  every  thing  was  still  to  be 
explained,  and  many  things  discovered,  he  achieved  as  much  for  the 
advancement  of  science  as  the  most  favored  individuals,  in  the  nar- 
row compass  of  a  lifetime,  can  be  expected  to  accomplish.  And  if 
he  had  not  been  drawn  away  from  the  study  of  nature  into  politics, 
he  would,  doubtless,  have  arrived  at  many  truths,  which,  in  his 
time,  were  only  conjectures,  or  were  not  yet  conjectured.  If  ha 
had  had  but  a  hint  of  magnetic  electricity,  he  was  the  man  to  have 
darted  straight  to  the  conception  of  the  telegraph.  But  as  there 
is  a  i^rovision  in  nature  for  preventing  the  trees  from  growing  up 
into  the  sky,  so  it  is  arranged  that  no  man  shall  be  able,  during  his 


AGED    46.]  FKANKLIN   A:ST>   ELECTEICITY.  299 

residence  on  the  earth,  to  make  more  than  two  or  three  discoveries. 
How  necessary  it  is  for  the  preservation  of  the  species  that  the 
progress  of  knowledge  should  be  very  slow,  is  shown  by  the  pro- 
digious turmoil  created  in  the  world  by  the  little  advance  that  a 
single  century  can  make.  "Retarding"  persons  and  classes  are, 
doubtless,  as  necessary  in  a  country  as  the  intelligent  portion  of  its 
population. 

The  great  merit  of  Franklin  in  his  investigation  of  nature  was 
the  soundness  of  his  method,  which  was  this:  He  collected  his 
facts  diligently;  he  reflected  upon  them  patiently  until  he  had 
formed  his  theory ;  then  he  subjected  his  theory  to  every  test  that 
he  could  contrive ;  and,  finally,  he  recorded  the  whole  process  with 
clearness  and  modesty.  This  method,  when  it  is  employed  by  a 
competent  person  who  seeks  truth  for  truth's  sake,  will  lead  always 
to  respectable,  and  sometimes  to  great  results. 

It  is  Franklin  who  is  entitled  to  the  principal  share  of  the  honor 
bestowed  on  the  early  electricians  by  Goethe,  who  said  in  1809: 
"The  chapter  of  Electricity  is  that  which  in  modern  times  has,  ac- 
cording to  my  judgment,  been  handled  the  best."* 

Kant,  also,  in  1755,  styled  Franklin  the  modern  Prometheus, 
who  had  brought  down  the  fire  from  heaven. 

Among  the  many  tributes  paid  to  Franklin's  genius  at  this  time, 
several  were  in  rhyme.  As  a  specimen  of  these,  and  of  the  poetry 
of  colonial  America,  the  following  lines,  by  a  lady,  which  came  to 
him  from  South  Carolina,  may  interest  some  readers. 

To  JSenjamin  Franklin^  Esq.^  of  Philadelphia^  on  his  Experi. 
ments  and  Discoveries  in  Electricity. 

Let  others  muse  on  sublunary  things. 

The  rise  of  empires  and  the  fall  of  kings ; 

Thine  is  the  praise,  with  bolder  flight  to  soar, 

And  airy  regions  yet  untracked  explore ; 

To  dictate  science  with  imperial  nod, 

And  save,  not  ruin,  by  an  iron  rod. 

If  for  thy  birth,  when  latest  times  draw  nigh, 

As  now  for  Homer's,  rival  cities  vie : 

This  spot,  perhaps,  unmov'd  may  hear  the  strife, 

*  Characteristics  of  Goethe,  by  Miss  Austin,  vol.  L,  chap,  iii. 


300  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l752. 

Content  to  claim  the  vigor  of  thy  life ; 
To  show  thy  tomb,  like  Yirgil's  shown  before, 
With  laurel,  proof  to  lightning,  covered  o'er. 
Happy  that  here  we  boast  the  guardian  friend, 
Where  most  the  hostile  elements  contend  : 
This  hour  tremendous  thunders  strike  my  ear, 
Keen  lightnings  dart,  and  threatening  clouds  appear : 
Now  fly  the  negroes  from  the  impending  storm ; 
The  air,  how  cold !  this  moment  mild  and  warm. 
Now  down  it  pours !  the  tempest  shakes  the  skies : 
On  flashes,  flashes :  clouds  on  clouds  arise. 
The  noxious  rattle-snake  with  fear  deprest, 
Now  creeps  for  safety  to  his  poisonous  nest : 
Bears,  foxes,  lynxes,  seek  the  thicket  brake. 
Wolves,  tigers,  panthers,  in  their  caverns  quake ; 
Now  alligators,  diving,  quit  the  strand, 
And  birds,  unknown,  in  flocks,  repair  to  land ; 
Small  rivulets  swell  to  streams,  and  streams  to  floods, 
Loud  whirlwinds  rush  impetuous  through  the  woods, 
Huge  oaks  midst  foaming  torrents  fiercely  burn, 
And  tall  pines  blasted,  from  their  roots  are  torn  ; 
The  bolt  descends  and  harrows  up  the  ground, 
And  stones  and  sand  are  widely  scattered  round ; 
How  near  the  welkin  breaks !  how  nearer  still ! 
But  now  askance,  it  drives  o'er  yonder  hill ; 
The  rain  abates,  the  gloomy  clouds  retreat, 
And  all  is  light,  serenity,  and  heat. 
The  change  how  sudden !  but,  how  frequent  too ! 
The  change,  at  length,  without  one  fear  I  view : 
Sedate,  compos'd,  I  hear  the  tempest  roll. 
Which  once  with  terror  shook  my  boding  soul ! 
No  fire  I  fear  my  dwelling  should  invade ; 
No  bolt  transfix  me  in  the  dreadful  shade ; 
No  falling  steeple  trembles  from  on  high, 
No  shiver'd  organs  now  in  fragments  fly  ;* 
The  guardian  point  erected  high  in  air, 


*  The  steeple  and  organ  of  8L  Philip's  church  at  Charleston,  had  been  twice  damaged  by 
lightning. 


AGED    46.J  FEANKLIN   AND   ELECTRICITY.  301 

Nature  disarms,  and  teaches  storms  to  spare. 

So  through  the  sultry  deep  unmov'd  I  sail 

When  the  waves  whiten  with  a  boding  gale : 

A  fire-ball  strikes  the  mast,  a  silent  blow, 

Then  thunder  speaks — no  further  shalt  thou  go. 

Quick  it  descends  the  wire  around  the  shrouds, 

Which  guides  the  fury  of  the  flaming  clouds. 

With  haliow'd  wands  strange  cu'cles  once  were  made, 

To  gull  an  ignorant  crowd,  the  juggler's  trade. 

Within  the  line  no  blue  infernal  fire 

Could  pierce,  but  hence  malignant  powers  retire. 

What  these  pretended,  Franklin,  thou  hast  wrought. 

And  truth  is  owned  what  once  was  fiction  thought. 

Within  thy  magic  circle  calm  I  sit, 

Kor  friends,  nor  business  in  confusion  quit ; 

Whate'er  explosions  dreadful  break  around, 

Or  fiery  meteors,  crackling,  sweep  the  ground. 

Oh !  friend,  at  once  to  science  and  to  man, 

Pursue  each  noble  and  each  generous  plan  ; 

With  all  the  bliss  beneficence  obtains. 

Be  thine  those  honors  that  are  virtue's  meed, 

Whate'er  to  genius  wisdom  has  decreed  ! 

Accept  this  oflTering  of  a  humble  mind, 

By  sickness  weaken'd,  long  to  cares  confin'd  : 

Though  yet  untasted  the  Pierian  spring. 

In  lonely  woods  she  thus  attempts  to  sing. 

Where  seldom  muse  before  e'er  tuned  a  lay, 

Where  yet  the  graces  slowly  find  their  way  : 

Wild  as  the  fragrant  shrubs  or  blooming  flowers, 

Which  nature  scatters  round,  o'er  artless  bowers. 

More  soft  and  sweet  will  be  her  future  strain. 

Should  this  rude  note  thy  approbation  gain. 

c.  w. 

Cooper  River,  S.  C,  September,  17 58. 


302  LIFE    AXD   TIMES    OF   BEXJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1753. 

CHAPTER  X. 

OTHER  EVENTS  ABOUT  1750. 

While  adding  to  the  sum  of  knowledge,  Franklin  engaged  in  a 
scheme  for  diffusing  it.  In  1743,  when  his  son  was  thirteen  years 
old,  and  his  own  circumstances  had  become  such  as  to  entitle  the^ 
hoy  to  a  liberal  education,  he  awoke  to  the  fact,  that  neither  in 
Pennsylvania  nor  in  New  York  was  there  a  college  or  a  high 
school.  He  made  some  slight  attempt  to  found  an  academy  in 
Philadelphia  at  that  time,  but  circumstances  were  not  propitious, 
and  the  war  intervening,  the  project  was  laid  aside  for  six  years. 
In  1749,  the  country  being  at  peace,  and  himself  at  leisure,  he  re- 
newed his  endeavors,  though  his  son  was  then  grown  past  the  need 
of  an  academy :  "  nineteen  years  of  age,  a  tall,  proper  youth,  and 
much  of  a  beau,"  wrote  his  father. 

According  to  his  custom,  he  had  recourse,  first  of  all,  to  the  Jun- 
to, who  had  then  shed  their  leathern  aprons,  and  become  prosperous 
gentlemen  in  broadcloth.  Several  members  of  the  club  entered 
warmly  into  the  scheme,  which  found  friends  also  in  other  clubs 
and  circles  of  Philadelphia.  The  next  step  was  to  propitiate  the 
pubhc ;  which  he  accomplished  by  wi'iting  a  pamphlet,  entitled, 
"  Proposals  relating  to  the  Education  of  Youth  in  Pennsylvania," 
a  copy  of  which  he  caused  to  be  delivered  to  each  of  the  subscribers 
to  the  Gazette.  This  pamphlet  of  Proposals  must  have  been  ex- 
tremely taking  to  the  good  people  of  Philadelphia ;  and,  indeed,  it 
contained  several  admirable  paragraphs.  Every  one,  it  is  said, 
thinks  he  could  edit  a  newspaper  or  keep  a  school.  Franklin's 
pamphlet  is  an  intelligent  man's  dream  of  an  academy,  the  realiza- 
tion of  which  would  demand  ideal  teachers,  impossible  pupils,  and 
a  commonwealth  of  philosophers.  When  a  man  who  has  never  cut 
off  a  limb;  is  able  to  discourse  usefully  of  amputation,  then  it  will 
be  possible  for  a  man  who  has  never  been  a  schoolmaster,  to  draw 
up  a  practicable  scheme  of  a  school. 

Nevertheless,  the  pamphlet  is  very  entertaining.  He  began, 
of  course,  by  eulogizing  education  in  general.  "Many  of  the  first 
settlers  of  these  provinces,"  he  continued,  "  were  men  who  had  re- 
ceived a  good  education  in  Europe ;  and  to  their  wisdom  and  good 


AGED  46.]         OTHER  EVENTS  ABOUT  1750.  303 

management  we  owe  much  of  our  present  prosperity.  But  their 
hands  were  full,  and  they  could  not  do  all  things.  The  present  race 
are  not  thought  to  be  generally  of  equal  ability ;  for,  though  the 
American  youth  are  allowed  not  to  want  capacity,  yet  the  best  ca- 
pacities require  cultivation ;  it  being  truly  with  them  as  with  the 
best  ground,  which,  unless  well  tilled,  and  sowed  with  profitable 
seed,  produces  only  ranker  weeds." 

Then  he  proceeded  to  set  forth  his  scheme  in  detail.  '  Trustees 
should  be  appointed,  subscriptions  made,  a  house  provided,  and 
grounds  planted ;'  the  house  to  be  "  not  far  from  a  river,  having 
a  garden,  orchard,  meadow,  and  a  field  or  two."  The  students 
should  be  fed  plainly  and  frugally,  and  often  exercised  in  running, 
leaping,  wrestling  and  swimming;  they  should  wear  a  uniform 
dress,  that  their  behavior  might  be  the  better  observed.  As  to  their 
studies,  since  they  could  not  learn  every  thing  useful  and  every 
thing  ornamental,  they  should  learn  what  was  most  useful  and  most 
ornamental;  such  as  a  fair,  swift  hand-writing,  arithmetic,  book- 
keeping, the  rudiments  of  geometry  and  astronomy,  the  English 
language,  geography,  history,  logic,  natural  science,  good  morals, 
and  good  manners.  He  dwelt  particularly  upon  the  importance  of 
a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  English  language  and  English  au- 
thors. But,  at  the  same  time,  "  all  intended  for  divinity  should  be 
taught  Latin  and  Greek  ;  for  physic,  the  Latin,  Greek,  and  French  ; 
for  law,  the  Latin  and  French;  merchants,  the  French,  German, 
and  Spanish  ;  and,  though  all  should  not  be  compelled  to  learn 
Latin,  Greek,  or  the  modern  foreign  languages,  yet  none  that  have 
an  ardent  desire  to  learn  them  should  be  refused ;  their  English, 
arithmetic,  and  other  studies,  absolutely  necessary,  being  at  the 
same  time  not  neglected."  And  "  with  the  v/hole  should  be  con- 
stantly inculcated  and  cultivated,  that  henigyiity  of  mind^  which 
shows  itself  in  searching  for  and  seizing  every  opportunity  to  serve 
and  to  oblige ;  and  is  the  foundation  of  what  is  called  good  breed- 
ing;  highly  useful  to  the  possessor,  and  most  agreeable  to  all. 
The  idea  of  what  is  true  merit  should  also  be  often  presented  to 
youth,  explained  and  impressed  on  their  minds,  as  consisting  in  an 
inclination^  joined  with  an  ability,  to  serve  mankind,  one's  country, 
friends,  and  family ;  which  abihty  is,  with  the  blessing  of  God,  to  be 
acquired  or  greatly  increased  by  true  learning  ;  and  should,  indeed, 
be  the  great  aim  and  end  of  all  learning." 


304  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1752. 

The  passage  relating  to  tlie  study  of  languages  was  not  the  dic- 
tate of  Franklin's  own  mind.  It  was  his  strong  conviction  that  the 
academy  should  at  first  attempt  an  English  course  only ;  using  the 
English  as  a  means  of  imparting  that  knowledge  of  language  which 
was  supposed  to  be  attainable  only  through  the  study  of  Latin  and 
Greek.  He  wished  Addison,  Tillotson,  Pope,  Milton,  and  Shaks- 
peare  to  be  studied  as  Cicero,  Sallust,  Virgil,  Homer,  and  Thucydides 
are  supposed  to  be  studied  in  classical  schools ;  and  he  was  of 
opinion  with  Goethe,  that  all  in  the  ancient  writings  which  makes 
them  immortal,  can  be  learned  through  translations.  He  knew 
what  he  had  acquired  from  an  odd  volume  of  the  Spectator  when  he 
was  a  printer's  apprentice  in  Boston,  and  he  desired  that  the  same 
experiment  might  be  tried  on  other  minds.  If  any  languages  were 
learned  besides  the  English,  he  thought  they  should  be  the  French, 
German,  Spanish,  and  Italian.  Many  members  of  the  Junto,  and 
the  great  mass  of  the  people,  concurred  with  him  in  these  opinions, 
but  a  few  wealthy  and  influential  gentlemen  could  not  be  brought 
to  believe  in  any  system  of  education  not  founded  on  the  ancient 
languages.  Their  subscriptions  and  their  influence  could  not  be 
spared,  and,  therefore,  Franklin  conceded  the  point,  insisting,  how- 
ever, that  the  academy  should  have  in  connection  with  it  an  English 
school  as  well  as  a  Latin.  "I  submitted  my  judgment,"  he  says, 
"  retaining,  however,  a  strong  prepossession  in  favor  of  my  first  plan, 
and  resolving  to  preserve  as  much  of  it  as  I  could,  and  to  nourish 
the  English  school  by  every  means  in  my  power."  He  wrote  an 
additional  paper,  entitled  "  A  Sketch  of  an  English  School,"  designed 
to  aid  the  English  part  of  the  scheme. 

Such  were  Franklin's  influence  and  good  management,  that  no 
less  a  sum  than  five  thousand  pounds  was  almost  immediately  sub- 
scribed, to  be  paid  in  five  annual  installments,  and,  before  the  year 
ended,  the  school  w^as  opened.  Pupils  flocked  in  in  such  numbers  that 
it  was  soon  necessary  to  procure  a  larger  building.  It  so  happened 
that  the  church  built  during  the  stay  of  Whitefield  for  the  purpose 
of  afibrding  a  pulpit  to  any  minister  who  might  w^ish  to  address  the 
people  of  Philadelphia,  had  become  available  for  the  purpose.  The 
religious  enthusiasm  having  abated,  the  ground  rent  of  the  edifice 
had  not  been  punctually  paid,  and  other  debts  had  accumulated. 
Franklin,  being  a  trustee  both  of  the  church  and  of  the  academy, 
negotiated  a  transfer  of  the  property  to  the  trustees   of  the  latter, 


AGED   40.]  OTHER   EVENTS   ABOUT    l750.  305 

who  agreed  to  pay  tlie  debts,  and  forever  preserve  in  the  building 
a  large  hall  for  occasional  preachers.  The  building  was  soon 
adapted  to  its  new  purpose,  Franklin  engaging  the  workmen,  buying 
the  materials,  and  superintending  the  work.  And  thus  was  founded 
the  institution  that  became,  in  1779,  the  "University  of  Penn- 
sylvania," and  which  still  flourishes  under  the  same  name,  the  chief 
of  the  institutions  of  learning  of  which  Philadelphia  boasts. 

We  have  a  pleasing  glimpse  of  the  eager  Franklin  pushing  on 
this  great  enterprise,  m  one  of  the  letters  written  in  1749  by  Mr. 
Peters,  secretary  of  the  province  of  Pennsylvania.  "  Our  academy," 
he  wrote,  "  cuts  a  figure  in  print.  *  *  I  asked  Mr.  Franklin, 
who  is  the  soul  of  the  whole,  whether  they  would  not  find  it  difii- 
cu1t  to  collect  masters.  He  said,  with  an  air  of  firmness,  that  money 
would  buy  learning  of  all  sorts ;  he  was  under  no  apprehensions 
about  masters ;  but,  for  all  his  sanguine  expectations,  it  is  my  oj^in- 
ion  that  they  have  undertaken  what  is  too  high  for  them,  and  will 
not  be  able  to  carry  it  on ;  not  but  that  I  heartily  wish  they  may, 
and  shall  do  all  in  my  power  to  aid  and  spirit  them  up,  but  I  find 
the  matter  is  not  understood."* 

And,  indeed,  there  was  delay  in  settling  a  competent  principal. 
Franklin  much  desired  to  procure  the  services  of  the  Rev.  Samuel 
Johnson,  who  was  afterwards  President  of  King's  College,  in  New 
York.  The  trustees  invited  Mr.  Johnson  to  accept  the  post,  and 
offered  to  promote  the  building  of  a  new  Episcopal  church  in  Phila- 
delphia, the  rectorship  of  which  should  be  conferred  upon  him. 
The  reply  of  the  clergyman  to  this  offer  gave  Franklin  an  oppor- 
tunity to  employ  a  most  happy  illustration,  which  has  been  a  thou- 
sand times  quoted  to  be  admired.  "Your  tenderness  of  the 
church's  peace,"  wrote  Franklin,  "is  truly  laudable ;  but,  methinks, 
to  build  a  new  church  in  a  growing  place  is  not  properly  dividing, 
but  nmltiplying.  *  *  *  I  had  for  several  years  nailed  against 
the  wall  of  my  house  a  pigeon-box,  that  would  hold  six  pair ;  and, 
though  they  bred  as  fast  as  my  neighbors'  pigeons,  I  never  had 
more  than  six  pair,  the  old  and  strong  driving  out  the  young  and 
weak,  and  obliging  them  to  seek  new  habitations.  At  length,  I  put 
up  an  additional  box  with  apartments  for  entertaining  twelve  pair 
more ;  and  it  was  soon  filled  with  inhabitants  by  the  overflowing 

♦  Sparks,  i.,  5T0. 


306  LIFE    AND    TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [1752. 

of  my  first  box,  and  of  others  in  the  neighborhood.  This  I  take  to 
be  a  parallel  case  with  the  building  a  new  church  here." 

Mr.  Johnson  still  declined,  however, 'and  Dr.  William  Smith,  in 
1754,  was  appointed;  under  whom  the  academy  attained  such 
celebrity  as  to  have  at  one  time  fifty-three  students  from  other 
colonies.  Nor  did  the  trustees  overlook  the  poor  and  lowly.  Wo 
read  in  t\iQ  Pennsylvania  Gazette^  Oct.  26th,  1752,  that  "  the  charity- 
school  opened  by  the  trustees  of  the  academy  now  teaches  reading, 
writing,  and  arithmetic,  to  a  hundred  poor  children,  most  of  whom, 
though  from  eight  to  thirteen  years  of  ago,  had  never  been  sent  to 
any  school  before,  nor  did  it  seem  likely  many  of  them  would  ever 
have  been  sent  to  any  school,  if  it  had  not  been  for  this  institution."* 
A  few  years  later,  we  read  of  Dr.  Smith's  collecting  in  England  for 
the  two  infant  colleges  of  New  York  and  Philadelphia  the  sum  of 
thirteen  thousand  pounds,  to  which  nearly  the  whole  bench  of 
bishops  contributed. 

Upon  the  whole,  Franklin  was  well  pleased  with  the  results  of 
his  exertions  to  found  the  college.  He  says  in  his  Autobiography  : 
"  I  have  been  continued  one  of  its  trustees  from  the  beginning  (now 
near  forty  years),  and  have  had  the  very  great  pleasure  of  seeing  a 
number  of  the  youth  who  have  received  their  education  in  it  distin- 
guished by  their  improved  abilities,  serviceable  in  public  stations, 
and  ornaments  to  their  country ;"  and  yet  in  one  particular,  which 
he  deemed  of  great  importance,  his  expectations  were  completely 
disappointed,  and  he  regretted  the  failure  to  his  dying  day. 

Every  one  who  has  had  much  to  do  with  schools  knows  very  well 
what  generally  happens  when  an  attempt  is  made,  in  the  same  school, 
to  educate  some  of  the  pupils  by  means  of  Latin  and  Greek,  and 
others  by  means  of  modern  languages.  The  learned,  sagacious  Dog- 
berry assures  us,  that  if  two  ride  the  same  horse,  one  must  ride 
behind.  The  Latin  and  Greek  generally  encroach  upon  their  ofi"- 
spring,  usurping  all  the  honors,  absorbing  the  main  strength  and 
force  of  the  school,  both  of  pupils  and  teachers.  The  two  systems 
cannot  go  on  fairly  together.     Teachers  capable  of  giving  out  fifty 

*  Boston,  the  leader  in  every  good  work  then,  as  noAV,  was  beforehand  -vvith  Philadelphia  in 
this  kind  of  benevolence.  In  the  Kew  England  Weekly  Jotirnal  of  April  8tb,  172S,  the  following 
advertisement  appeared :  "  Mr.  N^ath.  Pigott  intends  to  open  a  School  on  Monday  next,  for  the 
instruction  of  Negro's  in  Beading,  Catechizing,  &  Writing  if  required:  if  any  are  so  well  inclined 
as  to  send  their  Servants  to  said  School  near  Mr.  CheckUrfs  Meeting-IIouse,  care  will  be  taken  for 
their  Instruction  as  aforesaid." 


AGED  46.]  OTHER  EVENTS  ABOUT  1750.  307 

lines  of  Virgil,  and  hearing  boys  hobble  through  a  translation  thereof, 
abound  in  every  country.  The  routine  of  the  Latin  school  is  estab- 
lished, the  path  is  beaten  flat  and  hard,  and  nothing  is  easier  than 
to  keep  the  mill  going.  It  is  far  otherwise  with  the  system  based  upon 
modern  languages,  mathematics,  natural  science,  drill,  military  and 
gymnastic.  To  work  that  system  with  eifect  demands,  in  the  teacher, 
knowledge^  exact,  full,  special,  difficult  to  acquire :  to  say  nothing 
of  such  essentials  as  ardor,  tact,  sympathy,  dexterity,  and  grace. 
Even  at  this  late  day,  if  some  brave  and  great-souled  man,  with  an 
odd  million  or  so  to  spare,  were  to  found  a  college  in  which  the 
Prattle  of  infant  Man  (^.  e.,  the  Latin  and  Greek  authors)  should  not 
be  employed  as  a  means  of  education  at  all,  but,  instead  thereof, 
four  or  six  modern  languages,  abounding  in  the  masterpieces  of  Man 
Mature,  the  difficulty  would  be  to  fonii  a  corps  of  teachers ;  for 
they  could  not  he  found. 

The  good  Franklin  abounded  in  knowledge,  but  was  ignorant  of 
schools,  an*d  the  wealthy  members  of  the  board  of  trustees  were 
eager  to  carry  out  their  own  ideas.  His  scheme  of  an  English 
school  would  not  prosper.  It  had  been  his  secret  purpose  to  foster 
the  English  school,  hoping  it  would  at  last  overshadow  or  absorb  the 
Latin  school.  But  the  exact  contrary  happened  ;  the  Latin  school 
swallowed  the  English.  First,  the  Latin  master  was  honored  with 
the  title  of  Rector,  while  the  English  master  was  merely  styled  the 
English  Master.  Next,  the  Rector's  salary  was  fixed  at  two  hundred 
pounds,  and  the  English  master's  at  one  hundred :  and  this  at  a 
time  when  the  Latin  school  had  twenty  pupils  and  the  English 
forty.  Next,  a  hundred  pounds  was  voted  for  the  purchase  of  Latin 
books  and  maps,  but  not  a  penny  for  English  books.  The  small 
salary  of  the  English  master  made  it  difficult  to  procure,  and 
impossible  to  keep,  a  competent  man.  For  these  and  other  reasons, 
the  English  school  dwindled,  and  after  a  precarious  existence  of 
forty  years,  ceased  to  exist. 

This  failure  had  the  effect  of  deepening  Franklin's  conviction,  that 
the  time  had  for  ever  gone  by  when  the  Latin  and  Greek  should  be 
a  principal  means  of  educating  youth.  One  of  the  last  acts  of  his 
life  w^as  to  write,  in  the  intervals  of  acute  pain,  an  elaborate  and 
most  able  protest  against  that  system.  When  the  Latin  and 
Greek  were  the  gates  through  which  men  were  obliged  to  pass  in 
order  to  reach  the  treasures  of  thought,  knowledge,  and  imagination, 


308  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   PEANKXIN.  [l'/52. 

their  acquisition,  he  admitted,  had  been  in  the  highest  degree 
desirable.  Not  so,  when  translation  had  laid  low  the  ancient  walls, 
and  when  other  gates  invited  to  richer  treasures.  He  concluded 
his  protest  with  one  of  those  homely,  humorous  illustrations  by 
which  he  so  often  flashed  light  upon  a  dark  subject,  and  softened 
obstinacy  itself  into  smiling  acquiescence. 

"  At  what  time,"  said  he,  "  hats  were  first  introduced,  we  know 
not ;  but  in  the  last  century  they  were  universally  worn  throughout 
Europe.  Gradually,  however,  as  the  wearing  of  wigs,  and  hair 
nicely  dressed  prevailed,  the  putting  on  of  hats  was  disused  by 
genteel  people,  lest  the  curious  arrangements  of  the  curls  and  pow- 
deiing  should  be  disordered  ;  and  umbrellas  began  to  supply  their 
place ;  yet  still  our  considering  the  hat  as  a  part  of  dress  continues 
so  far  to  prevail,  that  a  man  of  fashion  is  not  thought  dressed  with- 
out having  one,  or  something  like  one,  about  him,  which  he  carries 
under  his  arm.  So  that  there  are  a  multitude  of  the  politer  people 
in  all  the  courts  and  capital  cities  of  Europe,  who  have  never,  nor 
their  fathers  before  them,  worn  a  hat  otherwise  than  as  a  chapeait 
bras,  though  the  utility  of  such  a  mode  of  wearing  it  is  by  no  means 
apparent,  and  it  is  attended  not  only  with  some  expense,  but  with  a 
degree  of  constant  trouble.  The  still  prevailing  custom  of  having 
schools  for  teaching  generally  our  children,  in  these  days,  the  Latin 
and  Greek  languages,  I  consider  therefore,  in  no  other  hght  than  as 
the  c/ia2peau  bras  of  modern  literature."* 

This  production  had  no  practical  effect,  and  Franklin's  conception 
of  a  OTeat  school,  free  from  the  obstructino;  nuisance  of  Latin  and 
Greek,  seems  as  far  from  realization  as  ever. 

No  sooner  was  the  academy  well  started  than  Franklin  was 
drawn  into  another  worthy  enterprise,  that  of  founding  a  hospital 
in  Philadelphia ;  a  project  conceived  by  an  intimate  friend  of  his. 
Dr.  Thomas  Bond.  Sick  immigrants  had  hitherto  been  lodged  in 
unoccupied  houses,  and  upon  the  islands  in  the  Delaware,  often  to 
their  own  and  the  city'v«5  detriment.  Dr.  Bond,  finding  the  people 
reluctant  to  subscribe,  the  scheme  being  a  novel  one  in  the  colonies, 
went  to  Franklin  to  consult  him  on  the  subject.  "  There  is  no  such 
thing,"  said  the  doctor  to  Franklin,  "  as  carrying  through  a  public- 
spirited  project  without  you  are  concerned  in  it ;    for  I  am  often 

*  Sparks,  ii.,  158. 


AGED    46. J  OTHEK    EVENTS    ABOUT    1750.  309 

asked  by  those  to  whom  I  propose  subscribing,  Have  you  consulted 
Franklin  on  this  business  f  And  what  does  he  think  of  it  ?  And 
when  I  tell  them  that  I  have  not  (supposing  it  rather  out  of  your 
line),  they  do  not  subscribe,  but  say,  they  will  co7isider  it.'''' 

Franklin  entered  heartily  into  the  enterprise,  wrote  in  favor  of  it 
ill  the  Gazette,  subscribed  liberally  himself,  and  obtained  subscrip- 
tions from  others.  Nevertheless,  it  soon  appeared  that  money 
enough  could  not  be  obtained  by  voluntary  subscriptions,  and 
Franklin  sought  help  from  the  Legislative  Assembly.  The  country 
members,  however,  objected,  saying  that  since  the  hospital  was  de- 
signed for  the  benefit  of  the  city,  the  city  should  bear  the  whole 
expense.  In  these  circumstances  Franklin  played  off  upon  the 
Assembly  one  of  those  harmless  tricks  by  which  he  occasionally 
carried  important  points.  He  asked  from  the  Assembly  a  grant  of 
two  thousand  pounds,  not  to  be  paid  until  it  should  be  shown  that 
the  public  had  voluntarily  contributed  two  thousand  pounds.  "  This 
condition,"  says  Franklin,  "  carried  the  bill  through  ;  for  the  mem- 
bers who  had  opposed  the  grant,  and  now  conceived  that  they  might 
have  the  credit  of  being  charitable  without  the  expense,  agreed  to 
its  passage ;  and  then,  in  soliciting  subscriptions  among  the  people, 
we  urged  the  conditional  promise  of  the  law,  as  an  additional  mo- 
tive to  give,  since  every  man's  donation  would  be  doubled :  thus 
the  clause  worked  both  ways." 

A  year  or  two  later,  a  wing  of  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital  was 
erected  on  its  present  well-known  site.  The  corner-stone  was  laid 
by  the  first-born  of  the  city,  amid  a  mighty  concourse  of  people. 
The  noble  inscription  on  the  corner-stone  was  written  by  Franklin  : 
"  In  the  year  of  Christ  MDCCLV.,  George  the  Second  happily 
reigning  (for  he  sought  the  happiness  of  his  people),  Philadelphia 
flourishing  (for  its  inhabitants  were  public-spirited),  this  building, 
by  the  bounty  of  the  government,  and  of  many  private  persons,  was 
piously  founded  for  the  relief  of  the  sick  and  miserable.  May  the 
God  op  Mercies  bless  the  undertaking." 

It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say,  that  the  Pennsylvania  Hospital,  from 
that  time  to  this,  has  never  ceased  to  relieve  the  sick  and  miserable. 
It  has  grown  with  the  growth  of  the  city,  until  it  ranks  now  among 
the  most  extensive  and  well  conducted  establishments  of  the  kind  in 
Christendom.  Franklin  might  well  say :  "  I  do  not  remember  any  of 
my  political  maneuvers,  the  success  of  which,  at  the  time,  gave  me 


810  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l752. 

more  pleasure,  or  wherein,  after  thinking  of  it,  I  more  easily  ex- 
cused myself  for  having  made  some  use  of  cunning." 

With  regard  to  the  candid,  unreserved  manner  in  which  Franklin 
often  confessed  his  good  deeds,  the  reader  should  be  informed  that 
he  did  it  on  principle.  It  was  his  belief  that  people  ought  not  to 
indulge  the  intense  vanity  of  concealing  their  virtuous  actions,  but 
should  speak  of  them  fully  and  freely,  as  though  it  Avere  not  such  a 
very  extraordinary  thing  that  a  man  should  do  a  good  deed.  He 
admired  the  modest  manner  in  which  ^neas  begins  his  story  to 
Dido  in  Virgil :  "  I  am  the  dutiful  ^neas  whose  fame  has  pierced 
the  skies  ;"  which  was  merely  his  way  of  saying,  "  I  am  that  JEneas 
of  whom  you  have  doubtless  heard,  who  carried  his  father  on  his 
shoulders  from  burning  Troy ;  an  act,  Madame,  let  me  tell  yoxx, 
which  was  not  unobserved  even  by  the  gods."  Who  should  know 
better  than  JEneas,  that  the  rescue  of  his  poor  old  father  was  a  meri- 
torious action,  and  who  had  a  better  right  than  he  to  tell  the  story  ? 
Besides,  urges  Franklin,  if  people  are  forbidden  to  praise  themselves, 
they  learn  to  gratify  their  self-love  by  censuring  others,  which  is  a 
kind  of  indirect  self-praise.  Wounded  self-love,  not  natural  malevo- 
lence,  is  the  principal  ingredient  in  man's  wrath  against  man ;  as 
every  one  knows  who  has  ever  hated,  and  lived  to  recover  from  that 
folly  and  think  calmly  over  it.  And  again  :  If  people  make  it  a  dead 
secret  what  they  think  of  themselves,  how  are  they  ever  to  be  set 
right  if  their  opinions  are  erroneous.  If  a  young  gentleman  addicted 
to  showing  off  in  the  Park  should  openly  and  frequentl)^  say  to  his 
friends,  "  I  sit  a  horse  superbly,  do  I  not  ?"  there  would  at  last  be 
found  one  individual  polite  enough  to  answer  the  question  truly,  and 
say  "  No  ;  you  stoop,  and  turn  out  your  toes."  "  Upon  the  whole," 
concludes  Franklin,  "I  wish  the  out-of-fashion  practice  of  praising 
ourselves  would,  like  other  old  fashions,  come  round  into  fashion 
again." 

Franklin  being  now  regarded  as  a  master  in  the  modern  art  of 
raising  subscriptions,  was  applied  to  by  that  eccentric  preacher, 
Gilbert  Tennent,  for  advice  and  assistance  in  raising  money  for  a 
new  church.  Franklin  refused  his  aid,  but  gave  his  advice.  "  In 
the  first  place,"  said  Franklin,  "  I  advise  you  to  apply  to  all  those, 
who  you  know  will  give  something ;  next,  to  those  who  you  are  un- 
certain whether  they  will  give  any  thing  or  not,  and  show  them  the 
list  of  those  who  have  given ;  and  lastly,  do  not  neglect  those  who 


AGED    46.]  OTHER    EVENTS    ABOUT    1750.  311 

you  are  sure  will  give  nothing ;  for  in  some  of  them  you  may  be 
mistaken."  The  i3reacher  laughed,  thanked  his  counselor,  and  fol- 
lowed his  advice  by  asking  everybody.  He  raised  more  than  the 
requisite  sum,  and  built  a  handsome  church  in  Arch  street.  This 
Mr.  Tennent  w^as  one  of  Whitefield's  friends  and  defenders,  and  v/as 
thought  by  some  to  surpass  even  him  m  the  po^^'er  of  exciting  con- 
sternation. It  w^as  he  who  used  to  preach  in  long  hair,  with  a 
leathern  girdle  round  his  waist.  "  Never  before  heard  I  such  a 
searching  sermon,"  said  Whitefield,  after  hearing  him  preach  in 
New  York ;  "he  is  a  son  of  thunder,  and  does  not  regard  the 
face  of  man." 

Philadelphia  was  an  unpaved  city  nearly  as  late  as  1760,  and  the 
soil  being  of  clay,  the  streets  were  scarcely  passable  in  the  rainy 
season.  It  is  astonishing  how  much  inconvenience  of  this  kind  the 
inhabitants  of  a  thriving  town  will  endure  before  making  a  serious 
attempt  to  remedy  it.  Franklin,  w^ho  lived  for  twenty  years  in 
sight  of  the  principal  market,  had  seen  with  pain  the  cleanly  people 
wading  in  mud  to  the  stalls.  The  ground  in  and  around  the  market 
was  paved,  at  length,  through  Franklin's  exertions,  and  nothing 
remained  but  to  keep  the  pavement  clean.  "  I  found,"  says  Frank- 
lin, "  a  poor  industrious  man  who  was  wdlling  to  undertake  keeping 
the  pavement  clean,  by  sweeping  it  twice  a  week,  carrying  oif  the 
dirt  from  before  all  the  neighbors'  doors,  for  the  sum  of  sixpence 
per  month,  to  be  paid  by  each  house.  I  then  wrote  and  printed  a 
paper,  setting  forth  the  advantages  to  the  neighborhood  that  might 
be  obtained  from  this  small  expense ;  the  greater  ease  in  keeping 
our  houses  clean,  so  much  dirt  not  being  brought  in  by  people's 
feet ;  the  benefit  to  the  shops  by  more  custom,  as  buyers  could 
more  easily  get  at  them ;  and  by  not  having,  in  windy  weather, 
the  dust  blown  in  upon  their  goods.  I  sent  one  of  these  papers 
to  each  house,  and  in  a  day  or  two  went  round  to  see  who  would 
subscribe  to  an  agreement  to  pay  these  sixpences ;  it  was  unani- 
mously signed,  and,  for  a  time,  well  executed.  All  the  inhabi- 
tants of  the  city  were  delighted  with  the  cleanliness  of  the 
pavement  that  surroimded  the  market,  it  being  a  convenience  to 
all,  and  this  raised  a  general  desire  to  have  all  the  streets  paved, 
and  made  the  people  more  willing  to  submit  to  a  tax  for  that 
purpose." 

It  was  ten  years  later,  however,  before  Philadelphia  (or  '•  Filthj  - 


31ii  LIFE    AXD   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l752. 

dirty,"  as  the  fanners'  wives  of  that  day  were  accustomed  to  call 
it)  was  generally  paved. 

About  1752,  we  find  Franklin  a  trustee  of  a  society  for  the  ben- 
efit of  poor  Germans;  a  society  which  had  influential  members  in 
England,  Holland,  and  Prussia,  as  well  as  in  the  colonies.  At  that 
time,  the  Germans  came  over  in  such  numbers  as  to  excite  serious 
apprehensions  of  their  outnumbering  the  English,  and  converting 
Pennsylvania  into  a  German  province.  "I  remember,"  wrote 
Franklin,  in  1753,  "when  they  modestly  declined  intermeddling  in 
our  electioDS,  but  now  they  come  in  droves,  and  carry  all  before 
them.  Of  the  six  printing-houses  in  the  province,  two  are  entirely 
German,  two  half-German  half-English,  and  but  two  entirely  Eng- 
lish. They  have  one  German  newspaper,  and  one  half-German. 
Advertisements,  intended  to  be  general,  are  now  printed  in  Dutch 
and  English.  The  signs  in  our  streets  have  inscriptions  in  both 
languages,  and  in  some  places  only  German.  They  begin  of  late  to 
make  all  their  bonds  and  other  legal  instruments  in  their  own  lan- 
guage, which  (though  I  think  it  ought  not  to  be)  are  allowed  good 
in  our  courts,  where  the  German  business  so  increases,  that  there  is 
continued  need  of  interpreters  ;  and  I  suppose  in  a  few  years  they 
will  also  be  necessary  in  the  Assembly,  to  tell  one-half  of  our  legis- 
lators what  the  other  half  say." 

To  this  day,  there  are  extensive  districts  in  Pennsylvania,  in 
which  the  German  is  the  prevailing  language.  The  objects  of  the 
society  just  referred  to,  were  the  establishment  of  English  schools 
among  the  Germans,  the  support  of  missionaries,  and  the  relief  of 
the  indigent.  In  1755,  Franklin  and  Hall  printed  a  tract,  entitled 
"  A  brief  History  of  the  Rise  and  Progress  of  the  Charitable  Scheme, 
carrying  on  by  a  Society  of  Noblemen  and  Gentlemen  in  London, 
for  the  Relief  and  Instruction  of  poor  Germans  and  their  descend- 
ants in  Pennsylvania  and  the  adjacent  Colonies  of  North  America, 
pubhshed  by  order  of  the  Trustees  appointed  for  the  Management 
of  the  said  Charitable  Scheme."  It  was  patriotism,  not  less  than 
humanity,  to  aid  such  an  enterprise  as  this  ;  for,  during  the  war,  the 
Germans  in  the  back  counties  of  the  province  had  shown  no  great 
zeal  for  the  interests  of  Great  Britain,  and  some  sHght  leanings 
toward  the  French. 

Tradition  reports  that  it  is  to  Franklin's  quick  eye  and  mind  that 
we  owe  the  intioduction  into  America  of  the  yellow  willow.     A 


AGED  46.]  OTHER   EVENTS    ABOUT    1750.  313 

basket,  in  which  some  foreign  commodity  had  been  imported,  hav- 
ing been  thrown  into  a  creek,  was  observed  by  Franklin  to  be  put- 
ting forth  sprouts,  several  of  which  he  caused  to  be  planted  on  the 
ground  now  occupied  by  the  Philadelphia  Custom-House.  They 
took  root  and  proved  to  be  the  yellow  willow,  now  so  common  and 
so  useful.* 

We  derive  also  from  tradition  a  pretty  story  respecting  the  in- 
troduction of  Plaster  of  Paris  as  a  fertilizer.  The  Pennsylvania 
farmers,  being  slow  to  perceive  the  utility  of  powdering  the  sur- 
face of  their  meadows,  Franklin  wrote  with  plaster,  in  afield  on 
the  high  road,  in  large  letters: — "This  has  been  Plastered." 
The  white  letters  quickly  vanished,  but  soon  reappeared  in  emerald, 
showing  in  brilliant  contrast  to  the  grass  of  the  general  surface. 
The  lesson,  we  are  assured,  was  not  lost  upon  the  passing  farmers.f 
Broom-corn,  also,  it  is  said,  we  owe  to  the  accident  of  Franklin's 
discovering  in  an  imported  whisk  one  grain  still  adhering  to  its  pa- 
rent stalk.  This  grain  he  is  said  to  have  planted,  and  distributed 
about  the  country  the  seeds  resulting.  The  story  is  not  true,  how- 
ever, though  we  find  it  related  by  Watson  in  his  Annals.  Franklin 
obtained  some  seed  of  the  broom-corn  in  Virginia,  and,  besides 
planting  it  in  Pennsylvania,  sent  little  packages  of  it  to  friends  in 
Boston. 

And  yet  another  agricultural  anecdote,  which  was  related  by 
Mr.  John  Adams  in  his  diary,  when  he  was  a  young  man  of  twenty- 
four,  deep  in  the  study  of  law,  little  thinking  he  should  one  day  be 
the  colleague  of  Franklin  in  affairs  of  the  first  importance,  and 
write  of  him  only  to  disparage.  The  impetuous  student  spent  the 
evening  of  May  26th,  1760,  at  Mr.  Edmund  Quincy's,  near  Boston, 
"  with  Mr.  Wibird  and  my  cousin  Zeb ;"  and,  on  returning  home, 
recorded  "  a  remarkable  instance  of  Mr.  Benjamin  Franklin's  activ- 
ity and  resolution,"  which  he  had  heard  related  by  Mr.  Quincy. 
Mr.  Franklin,  during  one  of  his  visits  to  Massachusetts,  had  atten- 
ded Mr.  Wibird's  church,  and  after  church  had  gone  home  with 
Mr.  Quincy  to  tea,  according  to  the  social  custom  of  the  times. 
At  the  table,  Mr.  Franklin  mentioned  that  the  Rhenish  grape-vines 
had  been  lately  planted  at  Philadelphia,  and  succeeded  very  well. 
Whereupon,  Mr.  Quincy  said,  "  I  wish  I  could  get  some  into  my 

*  Watson's  ^innals  of  Philadelphia,  ii.,  487,  t  ChaptaPs  Agricultural  Chemistry,  p.  7o. 

u 


314  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   PEANKLIN.  [1752. 

garden :  I  doubt  not  they  would  do  very  well  in  this  province.'' 
Mr.  Franklin  replied :  "  Sir,  if  I  can  supply  you  with  some  of  the 
cuttings  I  should  be  glad  to."  "  Thank  you,"  returned  Quincy,  "  I 
don't  know  but  that  some  time  or  other  I  shall  presume  to  trouble 
you."  And  no  more  was  said  upon  the  subject.  A  few  weeks 
after,  Mr.  Quincy  was  surprised  by  a  letter  from  one  of  Franklin's 
Boston  correspondents,  saying  that  a  bundle  of  the  Rhenish  slips, 
sent  to  him  by  Mr.  Franklin,  had  arrived  by  sloop  from  Philadel- 
phia, and  awaited  his  orders.  Soon  after,  came  a  second  package 
by  post.  Two  years  later,  Franklin  was  again  at  Boston,  and  the 
obliged  Mr.  Quincy  called  upon  him  to  express  bis  gratitude.  "  I 
am  sorry,  Sir,  to  have  given  you  so  much  trouble,"  said  Quincy. 
"  O,"  cried  Franklin,  "  the  trouble  is  nothing  to  me,  if  the  vines 
do  but  succeed  in  your  province.  However,  I  was  obliged  to  take 
more  pains  than  I  expected,  when  I  saw  you.  I  had  been  told  the 
vines  were  in  the  city,  but  I  found  none,  and  was  obliged  to  send 
up  to  a  village  seventy  miles  from  the  city  for  them." 

The  student-at-law  was  amazed  at  this  anecdote,  and  knew  not 
whether  to  attribute  Mr.  Franklin's  conduct  to  his  love  of  his  na- 
tive province,  or  "to  an  unheard  of  stretch  of  benevolence  to  a 
stranger."  Let  us  hope  the  early  New  Englanders  were  more 
obliging  and  neighborly  than  we  should  naturally  infer  from  the 
astonishment  of  the  ardent  Adams.  "Thus,"  he  comments,  "Mr. 
Franklin  took  the  trouble  to  hunt  over  the  city,  and  not  finding 
vines  there,  he  sends  seventy  miles  into  the  country,  and  then  sends 
one  bundle  by  water,  and,  lest  they  should  miscarry,  another  by 
land,  to  a  gentleman  to  whom  he  owed  nothing,  and  was  but  little 
acquainted  with,  purely  for  the  sake  of  doing  good  in  the  world 
by  propagating  the  Rhenish  vines  through  these  provinces.  And 
Mr.  Quincy  has  some  of  them  now  growing  in  his  garden.  This  is 
an  instance,  too,  of  his  amazing  capacity  for  business,  his  memory 
and  resolution  :  amidst  so  much  business  as  counselor,  postmaster, 
printer,  so  many  private  studies,  and  so  many  public  avocations  too, 
to  remember  such  a  transient  hint  and  exert  himself  so  in  answer 
to  it,  is  surprising."* 

It  cannot  be  said  of  Franklin,  as  of  many  other  popular  men,  that 
he  was  admired  abroad,  and  detested  at  home.     He  was  beloved 

*  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,  ii.,  81. 


AGED  46.]  OTHER  EVENTS  ABOUT  1750.  315 

most  by  those  who  knew  him  best.  He  was  most  gracious,  con- 
siderate, and  polite  to  those  by  whom  contrary  behavior  would 
have  been  least  resented.  Many  writings  of  Franklin  exhibit  him 
in  a  light  extremely  favorable,  but  his  letters  to  his  mother,  his 
sisters,  his  brothers,  and  other  relations,  are  incomparably  sweet 
and  engaging.  His  mother,  in  these  his  prosperous  years,  was 
sinking  slowly  to  the  grave,  with  little  pain,  by  the  natural  decay 
of  her  powers.  He  wrote  to  her  frequently,  and  she  to  him,  when 
she  was  past  eighty-four. 

Oct.  loth,  1749,  he  wrote  :  "  I  send  you  inclosed  one  of  our  new 
almanacs.  We  print  them  early,  because  we  send  them  to  many 
places  far  distant.  I  send  you  also  a  moidore  inclosed,  which  please 
to  accept  towards  chaise  hire,  that  you  may  ride  warm  to  meetings 
this  winter." 

Oct.  1st,  1751,  she  wrote  to  him  :  "  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  are 
so  well  respected  in  your  town  for  them  to  choose  you  an  Alder- 
man, although  I  don't  know  what  it  means,  or  what  the  better  you 
will  be  of  it  besides  the  honor  of  it.  I  hope  you  will  look  up  to 
God,  and  thank  Him  for  all  His  good  providences  towards  you. 
He  has  granted  you  much  in  that  place,  and  I  am  very  thankful  for 
it.  I  hope  that  you  will  carry  well,  so  that  you  may  be  liked  in  all 
your  posts.  I  am  very  weak  and  short-breathed,  so  that  I  can't 
sit  up  to  write  much,  although  I  sleep  well  at  nights,  and  my  cough 
is  better,  and  I  have  a  pretty  good  stomach  to  my  victuals.  Pray 
excuse  my  bad  writing  and  inditing,  for  all  tell  me  I  am  too  old  to 
write  letters.  I  can  hardly  see,  and  am  grown  so  deaf  that  I  can 
hardly  hear  any  thing  that  is  said  in  the  house."* 

To  this  letter,  his  sister,  Jane  Mecom,  adds  a  loving  postscript : 
"  Mother  says  she  ain't  able,  and  so  I  must  tell  you  myself,  that  I 
rejoice  with  you  in  all  your  prosperity,  and  doubt  not  but  you  will 
be  greater  blessings  to  the  world  as  he  bestows  upon  you  greater 
honors." 

He  reassures  his  mother  in  regard  to  her  hand-writing  :  *'  We 
read  your  writing  very  easily.  I  never  met  with  a  word  in  your 
letters  but  what  I  could  easily  understand  ;  for,  though  the  hand  is 
not  always  the  best,  the  sense  makes  every  thing  plain."  Then  he 
tells  her  about  his  two  children  :  how  Will  had  grown  to  be  a  tall, 
proper  youth,  and  much  of  a  beau,  whom  his  soldiering  during  the 

♦  Letters  to  Benjamin  Franklin  from  his  fkmily  and  friends. 


316  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BEXJAMIN    FBANKLIN.  [1752. 

war  had  made  a  little  lazy,  but  he  was  then  beginning  to  take  to 
business  again.  "  Sally  grows  a  fine  girl,  and  is  extremely  industrious 
with  her  needle,  and  delights  in  her  work.  She  is  of  a  most  affec- 
tionate temper,  and  perfectly  dutiful  and  obliging  to  her  parents, 
and  to  all.  Perhaps  I  flatter  myself  too  much,  but  I  have  hopes 
that  she  will  prove  an  ingenious,  sensible,  notable,  and  worthy 
woman,  like  her  Aunt  Jenny.  She  goes  now  to  the  dancing-school." 
And  we  can  fancy  how  Aunt  Jenny's  eyes  danced  and  glistened  as 
she  read  out  to  her  mother  that  delightful  compliment  to  herself. 

The  good  old  lady  slept  the  sleep  that  knows  no  waking,  in  May, 
1752.  To  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Mecom,  Franklin  wrote:  ''I  received 
yours  with  the  affecting  news  of  our  dear  good  mother's  death. 
I  thank  you  for  your  long  continued  care  of  her  in  her  old  age  and 
sickness.  Our  distance  made  it  impracticable  for  us  to  attend  her, 
but  you  have  supplied  all.  She  has  lived  a  good  life,  as  well  as  a 
long  one,  and  is  happy." 

Her  remains  were  laid  beside  those  of  her  husband,  in  the 
Granary  Burial  Ground  in  Boston ;  and  over  the  grave,  their  son 
Benjamin,  soon  after,  placed  a  stone,  bearing  the  well-known  in- 
scription : 

JosiAH  Franklin  and  Abiah  his  wife 

lie  here  interred. 

They  lived  lovingly  together  in  wedlock  fifty-five  years ; 

and  without  an  estate  or  any  gainful  employment, 

by  constant  labour,  and  honest  industry, 

(with  God's  blessing,) 
maintained  a  large  family  comfortably ; 
and  brought  up  thirteen  children  and  seven  grand- 
children reputably. 
From  this  instance,  reader, 
be  encouraged  to  diligence  in  thy  calling, 
and  distrust  not  Providence. 
He  was  a  pious  and  prudent  man, 
she  a  discreet  and  virtuous  woman. 
Their  youngest  son, 
in  filial  regard  to  their  memory, 
places  this  stone. 
J.  F.  born  1655— died  1744,— JE.  89. 
A.  F.  born  1667— died  1752,—^.  86. 


AGED  46.]         OTHER  EVENTS  ABOUT  1750.  317 

Franklin's  letters  to  his  sister  Jane  continued  to  be  most  affec- 
tionate and  pleasing.  Once,  after  the  birth  of  a  child,  he  wrote  to 
her:  "My  compliments  to  my  new  niece,  Miss  Abiah,  and  pray  her 
to  accept  the  inclosed  piece  of  gold,  to  cut  her  teeth ;  it  may  after- 
wards buy  nuts  for  them  to  crack."  Again,  when  she  had  lost  a 
child  :  "  The  longer  we  live  we  are  exposed  to  more  of  these  strokes 
of  Providence ;  but,  though  we  consider  them  as  such,  and  know 
it  is  our  duty  to  submit  to  the  Divine  will,  yet,  when  it  comes  to 
our  turn  to  bear  what  so  many  millions  before  us  have  borne,  and  so 
many  millions  after  us  must  bear,  we  are  apt  to  think  our  case  par- 
ticularly hard.  Consolations,  however  kindly  administered,  seldom 
afford  us  any  relief  Natural  affections  will  have  their  course,  and 
time  proves  our  best  comforter.  This  I  have  experienced  myself; 
and,  as  I  know  your  good  sense  has  suggested  to  you,  long  before 
this  time,  every  argument,  motive,  and  circumstance,  that  can  tend  in 
any  degree  to  relieve  your  grief,  I  will  not  by  repeating  them  renew 
it.  I  am  pleased  to  find,  that,  in  your  troubles,  you  do  not  over- 
look the  mercies  of  God,  and  that  you  consider  as  such  the  child- 
ren that  are  still  spared  to  you.  This  is  a  right  temper  of  mind, 
and  must  be  acceptable  to  that  beneficent  Being,  who  is  in  various 
ways  continually  showering  down  his  blessings  upon  many,  that 
receive  them  as  things  of  course,  and  feel  no  grateful  sentiments 
arising  in  their  hearts  on  the  enjoyment  of  them."  And  again, 
when  death  had  once  more  invaded  their  circle :  "  As  our  number 
diminishes,  let  our  affection  to  each  other  rather  increase ;  for,  besides 
its  being  our  duty,  it  is  our  interest ;  since  the  more  affectionate 
relations  are  to  each  other,  the  more  they  are  respected  by  the  rest 
of  the  world." 

Franklin  always  spoke  cheerfully  of  death.  He  felt  all  the  false- 
ness of  the  common  saying,  that  man  has  a  soul.  Man,  he  would 
say,  is  a  soul,  and  has  a  body  lent  to  him  for  a  while.  He  keeps  it 
as  long  as  it  answers  its  purpose,  and  then  lays  it  aside.  When 
his  brother  John  died,  the  companion  of  his  candle-making  days, 
he  wrote  to  one  who  mourned  him :  "  He  who  plucks  out  a  tooth, 
parts  with  it  freely,  since  the  pain  goes  with  it ;  and  he  who  quits 
the  whole  body  parts  at  once  with  all  pains,  and  possibilities  of  pains 
and  diseases,  which  it  was  liable  to  or  capable  of  making  him  suf- 
fer. Our  friend  and  we  were  invited  abroad  on  a  party  of  pleasure, 
which  is  to  last  forever.     His  chair  was  ready  first,  and  he  is  gone 


318  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [1752. 

before  us.  We  could  not  all  conveniently  start  together  ;  and  why- 
should  you  and  I  be  grieved  at  this,  since  we  are  soon  to  follow, 
and  know  where  to  find  him." 

Benjamin  Mecom,  the  son  of  his  sister  Jane,  continued  to  share 
his  bounty  after  the  young  man  had  learned  his  trade  of  a  printer 
in  the  office  of  Parker  and  Franklin  at  New  York.  And  trouble 
enough  Franklin  had  with  him.  He  helped  him  to  set  up  in  busi- 
ness in  the  island  of  Antigua,  where  he  had  good  prospects.  Soon 
the  young  gentleman  removed  to  Boston,  where  he  was  for  many 
years  a  printer,  and  often  had  help  from  his  uncle.  The  numerous 
allusions  in  Franklin's  letters  to  "Benny's"  eccentric  proceedings 
are  confirmed  by  a  glimpse  we  get  of  him  in  Thomas's  History  of 
Printing,  the  respectable  author  of  which  saw  the  young  printer  in 
all  his  glory.  "  Benjamin  Mecom,"  says  Mr.  Thomas,  "  was  in  Bos- 
ton several  months  before  the  arrival  of  his  press  and  types  from 
Antigua,  and  had  much  leisure.  During  this  interval  he  frequently 
came  to  the  house  where  I  was  an  apprentice.  He  was  handsomely 
dressed,  wore  a  powdered  bob-wig,  ruffles,  and  gloves :  gentleman- 
like appendages,  which  the  printers  of  that  day  did  not  assume — 
and  thus  appareled,  he  would  often  assist  for  an  hour  at  the  press. 
*  *  *  I  viewed  him  at  the  press  with  admiration.  He 
indeed  put  on  an  apron  to  save  his  clothes  from  blacking,  and 
guarded  his  ruffles.  *  *  *  jje  gQ^  ^j^e  nickname  of 
'  Queer  N^otions'  among  the  printers."* 

This  erratic  young  dandy,  for  his  mother's  sake,  Franklin  was 
never  weary  of  advising,  aiding,  and  excusing. 

Before  accompanying  Franklin  into  public  life,  we  must  not  omit 
to  observe  that,  whatever  his  avocations  were,  the  interests  of 
science  were  never  long  forgotten  by  him.  Nor  did  he  confine  his 
studies  to  electricity.  It  was  at  his  suggestion  that  the  merchants 
of  Philadelphia,  in  1753,  and  again  in  1754,  dispatched  the  ship 
Argo  to  the  Polar  Seas,  for  the  purpose  of  discovering  a  North- 
west Passage.  It  was  he  who  welcomed  to  the  New  World  Pro- 
fessor Kalm,  the  Swedish  Botanist,  and  carried  him  out  to  German- 
town  to  visit  Mr.  Logan,  and  introduced  him  to  every  man  in  the 
colonies  who  could  forward  his  views.  It  was  he  who  discovered 
the  poisonous  properties  of  air  exhaled  from  the  lungs,  and  he  who 

*  i.,  851. 


AGED    46.]  OTHER   EVENTS    AEOUT    1750.  319 

first  wrote  effectively  upon  ventilation.  He  was  ever  a  devourer 
of  books.  Several  notes  of  his  to  Mr.  Logan  have  been  preserved, 
which  show  that  he  was  continually  borrowing  books  from  the 
library  of  that  gentleman,  and  returning  them  with  brief  com- 
ments. To  Mr.  Logan,  too,  who  was  old  and  infirm,  he  conveyed 
part  of  his  electrical  apparatus,  both  for  the  purpose  of  tiying 
upon  his  "  disordered  side  "  the  effect  of  electricity,  and  to  exhibit 
to  him  the  new  experiments.* 

I  should  add,  that  he  brought  up  his  beautiful  daughter  to  attend 
the  Episcopal  Church,  which  Mrs.  Franklin  also  attended,  not  un- 
frequently  accompanied  by  her  husband.  He  never  changed,  in- 
deed, his  religious  opinions  ;  but  the  conviction  grew  upon  him,  that 
religion  was  an  essential  part  of  human  affairs,  and  that  reUgiou 
could  be  purified  from  superstition,  not  so  much  by  direct  attacks 
upon  superstition,  as  by  the  loving  promulgation  of  truth,  which, 
being  believed,  would  inevitably  expel  from  the  mind  supersti- 
tious opinions  and  terrors.  In  conversation  with  familiar  friends, 
he  called  himself  a  Deist,  or  Theist,  and  he  resented  a  sentence  in 
Mr.  Whitefield's  Journal,  which  seemed  to  imply  that  between  a 

*  The  following  are  passages  from  Franklin's  notes,  of  1748  and  1749,  to  Mr.  Logan : 

''  I  send  you  herewith  the  late  Voyage  for  the  Discovery  of  the  Northwest  Passage,  which  I 
hope  may  afford  you  some  entertainment  If  you  have  the  Journiil  of  the  French  Academicians 
to  Lapland,  I  should  be  glad  to  see  it." 

"  I  send  you  the  third  and  fourth  volumes  of  the  Harleian  Miscellany,  and  also  what  I  have  of 
Mattaire's  Classics.  I  think  I  promised  to  send  you  something  else,  but  have  forgotten  what  it 
was.  You  complain  of  the  decay  of  your  memory,  but  mine  is  a  miserable  one,  and  never  was 
good.  I  thank  you  for  your  favor  in  lending  me  Marchetti's  Lucrezio  and  Smith's  Travels,  which 
I  shall  take  care  duly  to  return." 

"For  the  reason  you  mention,  I  am  of  the  same  opinion,  that  Dr.  Free  has  not  considered  the 
Picts'  language  as  you  have  done,  but  imagines  with  other  writers  that  the  Piet  nation  was  totally 
destroyed,  and  its  language  with  it." 

"  I.  send  you  herewith  a  new  French  piece  on  electricity,  in  which  you  will  find  a  journal  of  ex- 
periments on  a  paralytic  person.  I  also  send  Neal  on  Electricity,  and  the  last  Philosophical 
Transactions,  in  which  you  will  find  some  other  pieces  on  the  same  subject.  If  you  should  desire 
to  Bee  any  of  the  experiments  mentioned  in  those  pieces  repeated,  or  if  any  new  ones  should 
occur  to  you  to  propose,  which  you  cannot  well  try  yourself,  when  I  come  to  fetch  the  apparatus 
they  may  be  tried.  I  shall  be  glad  to  hear  that  the  shocks  had  some  good  eflfect  on  your  disor- 
dered side." 

"  I  send  the  Dialogues  on  Education,  which  I  ascribed  to  Ilutcheson,  but  am  since  informed 
were  wrote  by  Mr.  Forbes,  Professor  of  Philosophy  in  the  University  of  Aberdeen;  the  same 
who  wrote  the  Inquiry  into  the  Life  and  Writings  of  Homer.     I  also  send  Milton." 

"I  seaid  Whiston's  Life.  He  seems  to  me  to  have  been  a  man  of  great  industry  and  little  pru- 
dence. I  have  been  lame  these  two  weeks  past,  but  am  now  so  much  better,  that  I  think  I  shall 
be  able  to  wait  on  you  next  week  with  Mr.  Kalm.  We  had  a  very  bright  appearance  of  the 
Aurora  Borealis  last  night.  When  I  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  you,  I  shall  give  you  a  full  ac- 
count of  the  affairs  of  the  Academy,  which  go  on  with  all  the  success  which  could  be  expected."— 
Sparks,  vii.,  39 


i 


320  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l752. 

Deist  and  an  Atheist,  there  was  little  difference.  Whitefield  wrote : 
"  M.  B.  is  a  Deist,  I  had  almost  said  an  Atheist."  "  That  is,"  said 
Franklin,  "  chalk,  I  had  almost  said  cliarcoaV  He  was  accustom- 
ed to  amuse  himself  at  the  expense  of  the  "  Scripturians,"  as  he 
called  the  sticklers  for  orthodoxy,  by  opening  the  Bible,  and  pre- 
tending to  read  therefrom  his  own  version  of  an  ancient  parable, 
which  represented  Abraham  as  turning  a  heretic  out  of  his  tent 
into  the  wilderness.  God,  according  to  the  parable,  rebuked  Abra- 
ham sharply  for  this  conduct,  saying :  "  Have  /  borne  with  him 
these  ninety  and  eight  years,  and  nourished  him,  and  clothed  him, 
notwithstanding  his  rebellion  .against  me ;  and  couldst  not  thou, 
that  art  thyself  a  sinner,  bear  with  him  one  night  ?"  The  remarks 
of  the  Scripturians  upon  this  parable  were  ^ometimes  very  divert- 
ing, says  Franklin.  ■  ; ,,.  ,0  ^   %^tAxP^"t^^y^~ 

No  man  felt  the  moral  superiority  of  the  Christian  Religion 
more  truly  than  Franklin,  but  lie  was  devoid  of  that  quality  of 
mind  sometimes  called  reygrence,  which  attaches  sanctity  to  build- 
ings, places,  garments,  offices,  relics,  or  other  inanimate  objects. 
He  felt,  that  the  long  and  bitter  quarrel  between  "  believers"  and 
"  unbelievers,"  had  been  a  dispute  respecting  things  non-essential 
\  and  trivial ;  and  that  what  the  great  Deists  of  his  century  de- 
\  nounced  and  ridiculed,  was  not  Christianity,  but  certain  heathen 
superstitions  and  barbarous  rites  which  had  assumed  its  name. 

Franklin  himself,  however,  has'  told  us,  with  all  his  own  vivid- 
ness and  wit,  what  he  thought  respecting  religion  at  this  very 
I ,  period.  In  1753,  he  wrote  thus  to  Mr.  Whitefield  : 
1/  "  For  ray  own  part,  when  I  am  employed  in  serving  others,  I  do 
I  not  look  upon  myself  as  conferring  favors,  but  as  paying  debts.  In 
my  travels,  and  since  my  settlement,  I  have  received  much  kind- 
ness from  men,  to  whom  I  shall  never  have  any  opportunity  of 
making  the  least  direct  return ;  and  numberless  mercies  from  God, 
who  is  infinitely  above  being  benefited  by  our  services.  Those 
kindnesses  from  men,  I  can  therefore  only  return  to  their  fellow- 
men,  and  I  can  only  show  my  gratitude  for  these  mercies  from  God, 
by  a  readiness  to  help  his  other  children  and  my  brethren.  For  I 
do  not  think,  that  thanks  and  compliments,  though  repeated  weekly, 
can  discharge  our  real  obligations  to  each  other,  and  much  less 
those  to  our  Creator.  You  will  see  in  this  my  notion  of  good 
works  that  I  am  far  from  expecting  to  merit  heaven  by  them.     By 

\ 

\ 


AGED   46.]  OTHER   EVENTS   ABOUT    1750.  321 

heaven  we  understand  a  state  of  happiness,  infinite  in  degree,  and 
eternal  in  duration.  I  do  nothing  to  deserve  such  reward.  He 
that,  for  giving  a  draught  of  water  to  a  thirsty  person,  should  expect 
to  be  paid  with  a  good  plantation,  would  be  modest  in  his  demands 
compared  with  those  who  think  they  deserve  heaven  for  the  little 
good  they  do  on  earth.  Even  the  mixed,  imperfect  pleasures  we 
enjoy  in  this  world,  are  rather  from  God's  goodness  than  our  merit ; 
how  much  more  such  happiness  of  heaven !  For  my  part  I  have  not 
the  vanity  to  think  I  deserve  it,  the  folly  to  expect  it,  nor  the  ambi- 
tion to  desire  it ;  but  content  myself  in  submitting  to  the  will  and 
disposal  of  that  God,  who  made  me,  who  has  hitherto  preserved 
and  blessed  me,  and  in  whose  fatherly  goodness  I  may  well  confide, 
that  he  will  never  make  me  miserable ;  and  that  even  the  afflictions 
I  may  at  any  time  suffer  shall  tend  to  my  benefit. 

"The  faith  you  mention  has  certainly  its  use  in  the  world.  I  do 
not  desire  to  see  it  diminished,  nor  would  I  endeavor  to  lessen  it 
in  any  man.  But  I  wish  it  were  more  productive  of  good  works 
than  I  have  generally  seen  it ;  I  mean  real  good  works ;  works  of 
kindness,  charity,  mercy,  and  public  spirit;  not  holiday-keeping, 
sermon-reading  or  hearing  ;  performing  church  ceremonies,  or  mak- 
ing long  prayers,  filled  with  flatteries  and  compliments,  despised 
even  by  wise  men,  and  much  less  capable  of  pleasing  the  Deity. 
The  worship  of  God  is  a  duty ;  the  hearing  and  reading  of  sermons 
may  be  useful ;  but,  if  men  rest  in  hearing  and  praying,  as  too 
many  do,  it  is  as  if  a  tree  should  value  itself  on  being  watered  and 
putting  forth  leaves,  though  it  never  produced  any  fruit. 

"  Your  great  Master  thought  much  less  of  these  outward  appear- 
ances and  professions,  than  many  of  his  modern  disciples.  He  pre- 
ferred the  doers  of  the  word,  to  the  mere  hearers ;  the  son  that 
seemingly  refused  to  obey  his  father,  and  yet  performed  his  com- 
mands, to  him  that  professed  his  readiness,  but  neglected  the  work ; 
the  heretical  but  charitable  Samaritan,  to  the  uncharitable  though 
orthodox  priest  and  sanctified  Levite ;  and  those  who  gave  food  to 
the  hungry,  drink  to  the  thirsty,  raiment  to  the  naked,  entertain- 
ment to  the  stranger,  and  relief  to  the  sick,  though  they  never 
heard  of  his  name,  he  declares  shall  in  the  last  day  be  accepted ; 
when  those  who  cry.  Lord !  Lord !  who  value  themselves  upon 
their  faith,  though  great  enough  to  perform  miracles,  but  have  neg- 
lected good  works,  shall  be  rejected.  He  professed,  that  he  came 
14* 


322  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1*752. 

not  to  call  tlie  righteous,  but  sinners  to  repentance ;  which  implied 
his  modest  opinion,  that  there  were  some  in  his  time  so  good,  that 
they  need  not  hear  even  him  for  improvement ;  but  now-a-days  we 
have  scarce  a  little  parson,  that  does  not  think  it  the  duty  of  every 
man  within  his  reach  to  sit  under  his  petty  ministrations ;  and  that 
whoever  omits  them  oiFends  God." 


PART  III. 

m  THE  SERVICE  OF  PEMSTLVMIA. 


PART     III. 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE   PUBLIC   LAY   HOLD    OF   FRANKLIN.  i^ 

Feanklin  was  not  permitted  long  to  devote  his  well- won  leisure 
to  reading,  study,  and  conversation.  Not  long  did  he  resist  the  im- 
portunities of  those  who  wished  to  see  him  employed  in  the  service 
of  the  public.  His  exertions  to  place  the  province  of  Pennsylvania 
in  a  condition  to  defend  itself,  had  given  particular  delight,  not  only 
to  the  citizens  in  general,  but  to  each  class  and  party  of  the  citizens, 
and  to  every  branch  of  the  administration.  The  Governor,  who 
was  wont  to  regard  non-resistant  Quakers  as  his  natural  enemies, 
was  pleased  to  see  them  for  once  overcome  and  frustrated.  The 
Governor's  masters  in  England,  the  brothers  Penn,  were  glad 
enough  to  have  their  province  defended  at  small  expense  to  them- 
selves. The  anti-Quaker  minority  in  the  Assembly  were  happy  in 
beholding  the  broad-brimmed  majority  discomfited.  The  Quakers 
themselves  were  willing  to  have  their  property  protected  by  can- 
nons, provided  their  still  more  precious  sectarian  consistency  was 
preserved  intact.  As  to  the  people,  Franklin  had  given  them  a 
triumph  for  which  they  had  striven  vainly  for  years,  and  which 
came  home  with  equal  effect  to  the  prudent  German  and  the  pug- 
nacious Briton.  And  so  far  as  these  events  in  remote  Pennsylva-. 
nia  were  known  to  the  members  of  the  home  government,  Frank- 
lin's part  in  them  could  not  but  have  been  approved. 

It  so  chanced,  as  we  have  before  related,  that  the  peace  of  Aix- 
la-Chapelle,  which  delivered  the  colonies  from  apprehension,  and 
Franklin's  partnership  with  Hall,  which  gave  leisure  to  the  senior 
partner  of  that  eminent  firm,  took  place  about  the  same  time  in  the 
autumn  of  1748.  Despite  his  resolution  to  decline  office,  Franklin 
found  himself,  before  many  months  had  passed,  immersed  in  pulv 


326  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMTN"  FRANKLIN.  [l752. 

lie  business.  "  The  public,"  he  says,  "  now  considering  me  as  a 
man  of  leisure,  laid  hold  of  me  for  their  purposes  ;  every  part  of 
our  civil  government,  and  almost  at  the  same  time,  imposing  some 
duty  upon  me."  The  Governor  appointed  him  a  justice  of  the  peace. 
The  corporation  of  the  city  chose  him,  first,  a  member  of  the  Com- 
mon Council,  and,  soon  after,  alderman.  The  citizens  elected  him 
to  represent  them  in  the  Assembly,  and  he  did  not  decline  the  seat. 
We  find  him  also  a  member  of  the  commission  to  select  a  proper 
place  for  a  bridge  over  the  Schuylkill,  which  commission  named  the 
site  of  the  present  Market  Street  bridge,  and  there  the  bridge  was 
built. 

Roman  colonists  did  not  more  exactly  reproduce  in  Gaul  and 
Britain  the  institutions  of  Rome,  than  the  English  colonists  in 
America  the  institutions  of  England.  Philadelphia  was,  munici- 
pally speaking,  a  little  London,  with  its  Mayor,  and  Mayor's  ban- 
quet, and  Board  of  Aldermen,  from  whom  and  by  whom  the 
Mayor  was  annually  elected.  The  defects  of  the  London  govern- 
ment were,  of  course,  most  scrupulously  copied.  In  the  Minutes 
of  the  City  Council  of  that  period,  we  frequently  find  entries 
stating  that  persons  were  fined  for  refusing  to  serve  as  Mayor.  In 
October,  1745,  Alderman  Taylor  was  elected  Mayor,  and,  refusing 
to  serve,  was  fined  thirty  pounds.  The  Board  then  chose  Alder- 
man Turner,  who  also  refused,  and  was  fined  thirty  pounds.  At 
length,  Alderman  James  Hamilton  was  elected,  who  made  a  propo- 
sal which  reveals  the  reason  why  the  office  of  Mayor  was  so  little 
desired.  He  announced  his  intention  of  giving  one  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  toward  building  the  Exchange,  in  lieu  of  the  banquet 
which  it  was  customary  for  the  Mayor  to  give  to  the  corporation 
upon  going  out  of  office.  The  next  year,  the  Alderman  who  was 
elected  Mayor,  ran  away  out  of  town,  and  could  not  be  found  by 
the  Committee  appointed  to  notify  him  of  his  election,  and  so  he 
escaped  both  the  fine  and  the  office.*  And  this  occurred  just  after 
it  had  been  agreed  to  allow  the  Mayor  a  hundred  pounds  a  year 
toward  the  support  of  his  dignity. 

As  the  city  was  a  little  London,  so  the  Assembly  was  a  little 
Parliament ;  very  little,  for  it  consisted  of  less  than  forty  members. 
This  Assembly  had  once  been  an  exceedingly  simple  and  primitive 

*  Wfvtaon'8  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  1.,  68. 


AGED  4 O.J     THE  PUBLIC  LAY  HOLD  OF  FRANKLIN.  327 

body.  The  early  Minutes  show  that  the  members,  in  William 
Penn's  time,  used  to  take  their  dinners  with  them  to  the  House 
(the  House  being  a  school-room  liired  for  twenty  shillings  the  ses- 
sion), and  adjourn  sometimes  for  an  hour  to  warm  themselves  ;  paid 
their  Clerk  four  shiUings  a  day ;  and  fined  absentees  ten  pence ; 
often  sat  in  silence  for  a  while  meditating,  as  at  a  Quaker  meeting ; 
and  passed  laws  forbidding  the  drinking  of  healths  and  the  spreading 
of  false  news.  But  in  1750,  the  Assembly  had  become  in  a  high 
degree  parhamentary.  We  read  of  writs  being  issued  for  the  elec- 
tion of  members ;  of  riotous  elections ;  of  the  Assembly  being  rent 
into  parties  for  and  against  the  Governor ;  of  warm  debates  and 
dull  debates  ;  of  party  maneuverings  to  circumvent  an  administra- 
tion which  could  not  be  defeated ;  and  all  the  other  parliamentary 
features,  even  to  the  exclusion  of  spectators  and  reporters.  Not 
a  legislative  body  in  the  world  admitted  the  public  to  hear  its 
debates  until  1766,  when  James  Otis  caused  a  visitors'  gallery  to 
be  opened  in  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts.*  The  Governor  of 
Pennsylvania  was  appointed  in  England  by  the  proprietaries,  and 
was  removable  only  by  them.  The  Assembly,  therefore,  could  only 
bother,  torment,  and  frustrate  that  most  uncomfortable  of  Governors 
since  Sancho  Panza. 

It  is  as  a  member  of  this  small  parliament  that  we  have  now  to 
do  with  Franklin.  Oblivion  covers  his  aldermanic  career.  The 
office  of  justice  of  the  peace  he  soon  relinquished,  because  he 
found  that  the  performance  of  its  duties  required  more  knowledge 
of  the  common  law  than  he  possessed.  But  his  public  services  in 
connection  with  the  Assembly  were  numerous  and  important.  Of 
his  election  to  the  Assembly  and  his  other  public  employments,  he 
thus  speaks :  "  A  seat  in  the  Assembly  was  the  more  agreeable  to 
me,  as  I  grew  at  length  tired  with  sitting  there  to  hear  the  debates, 
in  which,  as  clerk,  I  could  take  no  part,  and  which  were  often  so 
uninteresting  that  I  was  induced  to  amuse  myself  with  making 
magic  squares  or  circles,  or  any  thing  to  avoid  weariness ;  and  I 
conceived  ray  becoming  a  member  would  enlarge  my  power  of 
doing  good.  I  would  not,  however,  insinuate  that  my  ambition 
was  not  flattered  by  all  these  promotions;  it  certainly  was;  for, 
considermg  my  low  beginning,  they  were  great  things  to  me  :  and 

*  Tudor's  "  Life  of  Otis,"  p.  258. 


328  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIX    FKANKLIN.  [1752. 

they  were  still  more  pleasing,  as  being  so  many  spontaneous  testi- 
monies of  the  public  good  opinion,  and  by  me  entirely  unsolicited." 

Upon  his  taking  his  seat  as  a  member  of  the  House,  the  place  of 
Clerk  became  vacant,  and  was  bestowed  on  Franklin's  son,  Wil- 
liam. And  I  may  here  remark,  that  Franklin  was  not  one  of  those 
austere  patriots  who  think,  with  Mr.  Jefferson,  that  a  public  man 
ought  not  to  appoint  to  office,  or  cause  to  be  appointed,  his  own 
relations.  Franklin  took  excellent  care  of  his  kindred  in  this  re- 
spect. If  there  was  a  good  thing  in  his  gift,  he  gave  it  to  a  Frank- 
lin or  a  Folger,  to  a  son,  grandson,  nephew,  or  cousin,  provided  he 
had  a  son,  grandson,  nephew,  or  cousin,  fit  to  discharge  the  duties 
of  the  place.  Not  to  have  done  so  would  then  have  been  thought 
unnatural  and  barbarous. 

We  know  little  of  what  passed  in  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania  ; 
and  if  its  debates  had  been  reported,  Franklin's  share  in  them 
would  have  been  small.  He  was  no  orator.  He  spoke  rarely, 
briefly,  and  with  hesitation.  No  great  thinker  has  ever  been,  or 
can  ever  be,  a  great  speaker  ;  for  great  oratory  is  a  kind  of  frenzy. 
Franklin's  speeches,  like  his  essays,  derived  their  effect  from  his  in- 
imitable talent  for  homely  illustration,  and  from  the  weight  of  his 
character.  "  I  was  a  bad  speaker,"  he  remarks  ;  "  never  eloquent, 
subject  to  much  hesitation  in  the  choice  of  words,  hardly  correct  in 
language,  and  yet  I  generally  carried  my  point."  Elsewhere  he  at- 
tributes his  powers  of  persuasion  to  the  constant  pains  he  took  not 
to  wound  the  self-love  of  those  whom  he  addressed.  "  I  retained," 
he  says,  "  the  habit  of  expressing  myself  in  terms  of  modest  diffi- 
dence, never  using,  when  I  advanced  any  thing  that  might  possibly 
be  disputed,  the  words  certairily^  undoubtedly^  or  any  others  that 
give  the  air  of  positiveness  to  an  opinion  ;  but  rather,  /  conceive,  or 
apprehend^  a  thing  to  be  so  and  so ;  It  appears  to  7ne^  or  I  shoidd 
not  think  it  so  or  so,  for  such  and  such  reasons  ;  or,  I  imagine  it  to 
he  so  /  or.  It  is  so,  if  I  am  not  mistaken.  This  habit,  I  believe,  has 
been  of  great  advantage  to  me,  when  I  have  had  occasion  to  incul- 
cate my  opinions  and  persuade  men  into  measures  that  I  have  been 
from  time  to  time  engaged  in  promoting." 

With  regard  to  his  hesitation  in  the  choice  of  words,  I  may  ob- 
serve, that  the  descendants  of  Franklin  possess  some  rough  draughts 
of  his  earliest  Junto  essays  and  Gazette  editorials,  the  erasures  and 
interlineations  of  which  show  that  the  fluency  of  his  written  style 


AGED  46.]     THE  PUBLIC  LAY  HOLD  OF  FKA?^:KXIN.  329 

was  not  acquired  early  or  easily.  I  have  no  doubt  that  some  of  his 
lightest  and  most  graceful  essays  were  written  with  labor;  such 
absolute  perfection  being  unattainable  without  labor.  Indeed,  it 
may  be  stated  as  a  rule,  that  the  lighter  the  writing,  the  harder  has 
the  author  worked  over  it.  For  what  is  the  difference  between 
light  writing  and  heavy  writing,  but  this  ?  In  light  writing,  the 
author  takes  all  the  trouble,  and  leaves  the  reader  all  the  pleasure ; 
in  heavy  writing,  the  author  has  all  the  pleasure,  and  shares  the 
trouble  with  the  reader. 

During  the  second  session  of  Franklin's  service  in  the  Legislature, 
the  Speaker  and  himself  were  appointed  to  represent  the  House  at 
a  conference  about  to  be  held  with  the  Indians  of  Ohio,  with  a  view  to 
the  conclusion  of  a  new  treaty.  The  French  had  then  begun  those 
encroachments  and  negotiations  which  preceded  the  old  French 
War ;  and  the  object  of  the  Pennsylvania  Commissioners  was  to 
cement  the  alliance  between  the  English  colonists  and  the  Western 
Indians.  The  conference  was  held  at  Carlisle,  and  a  treaty  was 
negotiated.  Some  Franklinian  management  was  employed  by  the 
Commissioners  on  this  occasion. 

"  W^e  strictly,"  says  Franklin,  "  forbade  the  selling  any  liquor  to 
them ;  and,  when  they  complained  of  this  restriction,  we  told  them, 
that,  if  they  would  continue  sober  during  the  treaty,  we  would  give 
them  plenty  of  rum  when  the  business  was  over.  *  *  They  claim- 
ed and  received  the  rum.  *  *  In  the  evening,  hearing  a  great  noise 
among  them,  the  commissioners  walked  to  see  what  was  the  matter. 
We  found  they  had  made  a  great  bonfire  in  the  middle  of  the 
square;  they  were  all  drunk,  men  and  women,  quarreling  and 
fighting.  Their  dark-colored  bodies,  half  naked,  seen  only  by  the 
gloomy  light  of  the  bonfire,  running  after  and  beating  one  another 
with  firebrands,  accompanied  by  their  horrid  yellings,  formed  a 
scene  the  most  resembling  our  ideas  of  hell  that  could  well  be  im- 
agined ;  there  was  no  appeasing  the  tumult,  and  we  retired  to  our 
lodging.  At  midnight  a  number  of  them  came  thundering  at  our 
door,  demanding  more  rum,  of  which  we  took  no  notice.  The  next 
day,  sensible  they  had  misbehaved  in  giving  us  that  disturbance, 
they  sent  three  of  their  old  counselors  to  make  their  apology.  The 
orator  acknowledged  the  fault,  but  laid  it  upon  the  rum ;  and  then 
endeavored  to  excuse  the  rum  by  saying,  "  The  Great  Spirit,  who 
made  all  things,  made  everything  for  some  use,  and  whatever  use  he 


330  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l753. 

designed  any  thing  for,  that  use  it  should  always  be  put  to :  now, 
when  he  made  rum,  he  said,  '  Let  this  be  for  the  Indians  to  get 
drunk  with ;'  and  it  must  be  so.'  And,  indeed,  if  it  be  the  design  of 
Providence  to  extirpate  these  savages,  in  order  to  make  room  for 
the  cultivators  of  the  earth,  it  seems  not  impossible  that  rum  may 
be  the  appointed  means.  It  has  already  annihilated  all  the  tribes 
who  formerly  inhabited  the  seacoast." 

Frankhn  observed  the  Indians  with  a  philosopher's  eye,  regarding 
them  as  curious  products  of  nature,  complete  and  harmonious  until 
marred  by  contact  with  a  civilization  which  they  could  not  appro- 
priate. He  wrote  few  better  things  than  his  witty  and  satirical 
paper,  entitled  "Remarks  Concerning  the  Savages  of  North  Amer- 
ica ;"*  a  piece  written  with  such  art,  that  the  reader  is  not  quite 
sure,  at  last,  whether  its  real  object  was  to  defend  the  Indian  or 
ridicule  the  white  man.  It  will  remain,  however,  to  vindicate  the 
Indian  when  the  last  of  his  race  has  passed  away,  and  to  show  that 
it  is  the  intelligent  judgment  which  is  ever  the  most  favorable  one. 

Franklin  was  still  the  postmaster  of  Philadelphia,  having  held 
the  place  sixteen  years.  In  1753,  upon  the  death  of  the  post- 
master-general for  America,  Benjamin  Franklin  and  Willian  Hun- 
ter of  Virginia  were  commissioned  by  the  home  government  to 
succeed  him.  The  post-office  in  America  had  never  yielded  a  sur- 
plus. The  new  deputies  were  generously  allovv'ed  three  hundred 
pounds  a  year  each,  provided  they  could  make  the  office  yield  the 
requisite  amount  of  profit.  To  secure  that  object,  as  well  as  to  im- 
prove a  branch  of  the  public  service,  the  importance  and  defects  of 
which  he  knew  better  than  any  other  man,  Franklin  addressed 
himself,  in  the  year  1753.  At  this  period,  the  profits  of  the  post- 
office  department  of  the  whole  British  empire  were  a  little  less  than 
a  hundred  thousand  pounds  a  year,  and  its  gross  receipts  a  little 
more  than  twice  that  sum.  As  yet,  mail-coaches  were  not;  the 
carriers  of  the  mail  rode  on  horseback.  But  the  service  had  been  so 
far  improved  that  a  Londoner  could  send  a  letter  to  Edinburgh  and 
receive  an  answer  in  ten  days,  weather  and  highwaymen  permit- 
ting. It  was  not  uncommon  then  for  a  rider  to  leave  London  with 
only  five  or  six  letters  for  Edinburgh  in  his  bag :  on  one  occasion,  it 
is  said,  he  carried  but  one  letter. 

*  Sparks,  ii.,  458. 


AGED  47.]     THE  PUBLIC  LAY  HOLD  OP  FEANKLIN.  331 

la  the  American  colonies,  the  postal  service  began  thus  :  Letters 
arriving  from  beyond  the  sea  were  usually  delivered,  on  board  the 
ship,  into  the  hands  of  the  persons  to  whom  they  were  addressed ; 
every  family  sending  a  member  on  board  for  the  purpose  of 
receiving  letters.  Letters  not  called  for  were  taken  by  the  captain 
to  a  coffee-house  near  the  wharf,  where  they  lay  spread  out  on  a 
table,  awaiting  the  coming  of  their  owners.  Persons  coming  from 
adjacent  settlements  called  at  the  coffee-house  and  carried  away, 
not  only  their  own  letters,  but  all  the  letters  belonging  to  people 
in  their  neighborhood :  which  they  either  delivered  in  person,  or 
deposited  at  the  house  of  the  minister  or  magistrate,  or  some  rela- 
tive of  the  individual  to  whom  the  letter  was  addressed.  Hence, 
the  custom  grew  up  of  depositing  at  the  Ship  Coffee-house  letters 
written  in  the  town  and  destined  to  a  place  in  the  interior,  as  well 
as  letters  brought  from  the  country  and  directed  to  an  inhabitant 
of  the  town.  As  the  settlements  grew  in  numbers  and  magnitude, 
it  became  usual  to  leave  letters  directed  to  one  of  them  at  the  inn 
most  frequented  by  the  inhabitants  of  that  settlement.  Thus,  sev- 
eral years  before  there  was  a  post-office  or  a  post-rider  in  the  colo- 
nies, a  rude  slow,  unsafe,  but  neighborly  system  of  letter  delivery 
had  sprung  up  ;  and  long  after  the  establishment  of  a  post-office, 
this  neighborly  method  continued  to  be  the  main  dependence  of  the 
people  for  the  transportation  of  letters  for  short  distances. 

The  first  step  towards  the  formation  of  a  postal  system  was  taken 
when,  in  1639,  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  issued  the  fol- 
lowing decree  :  "It  is  ordered,  that  notice  be  given  that  Richard 
Fairbanks  his  house  in  Boston  is  the  place  appointed  for  all  letters 
which  are  brought  from  beyond  the  seas,  or  are  to  be  sent  thither, 
to  be  left  with  him ;  and  he  is  to  take  care  that  they  are  to  be  de- 
livered or  sent  according  to  the  directions ;  and  he  is  allowed  for 
every  letter  a  penny,  and  he  must  answer  all  miscarriages  through 
his  own  neglect  in  this  kind."  In  Philadelphia,  the  old  Coffee- 
house system  prevailed  for  many  years.  In  Virginia,  the  mail-bag 
was  passed  along  from  planter  to  planter  ;  each  being  required  by 
law  (passed  in  1757)  to  send  a  messenger  with  it  to  his  next  neigh- 
bor, under  penalty  of  a  hogshead  of  tobacco.  Every  man  took  out 
of  the  bag  his  own  letters,  and  sent  on  the  remainder.  In  1672, 
the  enterprising  government  of  New  York  established  a  monthly 
mail  to  Boston,  advertising  "  those  that  bee  disposed  to  send  letterti 


332  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1753. 

to  bring  them  to  the  Secretary's  office,  where,  in  a  lockt  box,  they 
shall  be  preserved  till  the  messenger  calls  for  them;  all  persons 
paying  the  post  before  the  bagg  be  seeled  up."  In  1692,  the  office 
of  postmaster-general  for  North  America  was  created  ;  but,  as  late 
as  1704,  no  post-rider  went  farther  north  than  Boston  or  farther' 
south  than  Philadelphia.  When  Franklin  was  appointed  postmas- 
ter-general, in  1753,  the  line  of  posts  still  began  at  Boston,  and  went 
no  farther  south  than  Charleston.  And  even  twenty  years  after- 
wards, there  was  no  post  into  the  interior  of  the  country. 

As  soon  as  Franklin  was  appointed,  he  named  his  son  control- 
ler of  the  post-office,  and  the  details  of  the  department  were  man- 
aged by  that  fortunate  young  gentleman  for  several  years.  Frank- 
lin gave  the  postmastership  of  Philadelphia,  first,  to  his  son,  then  to 
a  relative  of  his  wife,  and,  afterwards,  to  one  of  his  own  brothers. 
In  the  summer  of  1753,  he  set  out  upon  a  tour  of  inspection,  and 
visited  every  post-office  in  the  country  except  that  of  Charleston ; 
infusing  new  vigor  into  the  service,  and  putting  the  whole  upon  an 
improved  footing.  For  four  years  he  toiled  and  schemed  without 
reward ;  nay,  at  the  end  of  four  years  the  department  owed  its 
chiefs  nine  hundred  pounds.  But  by  that  time,  the  new  system  > 
began  to  tell,  and  the  American  post-office  soon  yielded  the  salary 
of  the  postmasters  and  a  small  revenue  besides ;  "  three  times  as 
much  clear  revenue  to  the  crown  as  the  post-office  of  Ireland,"  says 
Franklin.  But  that  could  not  have  been  much,  for,  as  late  as  1801,, 
the  Irish  post-office  yielded  only  twenty  thousand  pounds  a  year 
profit. 

Some  of  the  improvements  introduced  into  the  colonial  post-office 
by  Franklin,  have  remained  part  ofthe  postal  system  of  the  country 
to  this  day.      It  was  he  who  made  the  carrying  of  newspapers,, 
which  before  were  carried  free,  a  source  of  revenue.     He  charged  I 
each  subscriber  who  received  his  newspaper  by  mail,  ninepence  ai 
year  for  fifty  miles,  and  eighteen  pence  a  year  for  a  hundred  miles. 
And  what  was  a  still  greater  improvement,  he  compelled  his  riders  > 
to  take  all  the  newspapers  offered,  instead  of  carrying  only  those  • 
issued  by  a  postmaster.     Thus  an  unjust  and  injurious  monopoly,, 
from  which  he  himself  had  suffered,  was  aboUshed.     Again  :  it  was  . 
he  who  first  advertised  in  the  newspapers  the  list  of  letters  remain- 
ing in  the  post-office,  and  he  who  first  established  in  the  colonial 
towns  the  penny-post,  which  originated  in  London  in  the  reign  of 


AGED  4:1.]  THE    PUBLIC   LAY   HOLD    OF   FEANKLIN.  333 

Charles  II.  Besides  these  improvements,  he  quickened  the  pace 
of  the  post-riders  and  increased  their  number.  Instead  of  a  mail 
between  Philadelphia  and  New  York  once  a  week  in  summer  and 
twice  a  month  in  winter,  he  soon  started  a  mail  from  each  of  the 
two  cities  three  times  a  week  in  summer  and  once  a  week  in  win- 
ter. To  get  an  answer  from  Boston,  a  Philadelphian  had  been 
obliged  to  wait  six  weeks;  Franklin  reduced  the  time  to  three 
weeks.  He  reduced  the  rates  of  postage  very  judiciously.  ^  The 
postage  upon  a  letter  across  the  ocean  was  fixed  at  one  shilhng — 
precisely  what  it  now  is.  Letters  carried  along  the  coast  in  ves- 
sels  any  distance,  short  or  long,  paid  four  pence.  Letters  carried 
by  land  paid  for  sixty  miles,  four  pence  ;  a  hundred  miles,  six  penc« ; 
two  hundred  miles,  eight  pence;  and  every  additional  hundred 
miles,  two  pence.  Most  of  the  post-roads  were  then  mere  bridle- 
paths through  the  forest ;  several  of  these  Franklin  caused  to  be 
straightened,  and  otherwise  improved.  Even  between  Amboy  and 
Trenton,  the  very  road  along  which  Franklin,  the  runaway  appren- 
tice, had  wearily  trudged  in  the  rain,  in  1723,  had,  as  late  as  1755, 
a  stake  set  up  every  two  miles  to  keep  the  traveler  from  going 
astray.* 

Thus,  by  the  end  of  1753,  Franklin  was  fairly  launched  into  public 
life,  being  employed  by  his  king,  by  the  governor,  by  the  corpora- 
tion of  the  city,  and  by  his  fellow-citizens.  The  reputation  derived 
from  his  discoveries  in  electricity  had  by  this  time  enhanced  his 
consequence  in  America,  and  his  office  of  deputy  postmaster-gene- 
ral made  his  name  a  household  word  from  Boston  to  Charleston. 
He  was  now  a  man  who  was  asked  to  head  subscriptions,  and  re- 
specting whom  anecdotes  were  told.  Only  two  American  names 
were  then  extensively  known  in  Europe— Jonathan  Edwards  in 
the  religious  world,  and  Benjamin  Franklin  in  the  circles  of  sci- 
ence. 

An  anecdote  of  this  period  is  related  by  Franklin's  grandson  : 
"  The  merchants  of  Philadelphia,"  he  says,  "  set  up  an  assembly 
for  dancing,  and  desiring  to  assume  a  rank  above  the  mechanics, 
they  at  first  proposed,  among  the  rules  for  regulating  the  assembly, 
'  that  no  mechanic  or  mechanic's  wife  or  daughter,  should  be  ad- 

♦  See  "Encyclopedia  Britannica,"  xviii.,  406;  Watson's  "Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  ii.,  393; 
Whitehead's  " History  of  East  Jersey,"  p.  376;  Drake's  "History  of  Boston,"  p.  430 ;  Sparks,  yu., 
185,  etc. 


334  LIFE    AND   TniES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [ll5d. 

mitted  on  any  terms.'  Those  rules  being  shown  by  a  manager  to 
Franklin  for  his  opinion,  he  remarked  that  one  of  them  excluded 
God  Almighty.  '  How  so  ?'  said  the  manager.  '  Because,'  replied 
Franklin,  '  He  is  notoriously  the  greatest  mechanic  in  the  uni- 
verse ;  having,  as  the  Scripture  testifies,  made  all  things,  and  that 
by  weight  and  measure.'  The  gentlemen  became  ashamed  of  their 
rule,  and  struck  it  out."* 

Another  little  story,  related  by  Franklin  himself,  gives  us  a 
glimpse  of  the  simple  old  ways  of  the  colonists  at  this  time.  "The 
skipper  of  a  shallop,  employed  between  Cape  May  and  Philadel- 
phia, had  done  us  some  small  service,  for  which  he  refused  to  be 
paid.  My  wife,  understanding  that  he  had  a  daughter,  sent  her  a 
present  of  a  new-fashioned  cap.  Three  years  after,  this  skipper 
being  at  my  house  with  an  old  farmer  of  Cape  May,  his  passenger, 
he  mentioned  the  cap,  and  how  much  his  daughter  had  been 
pleased  with  it.  '  But,'  said  he, '  it  proved  a  dear  cap  to  our  con- 
gregation.' 'How  so?'  'When  my  daughter  appeared  with  it 
at  meeting,  it  was  so  much  admired,  that  all  the  girls  resolved  to 
get  such  caps  from  Philadelphia ;  and  my  wife  and  I  computed, 
that  the  whole  could  not  have  cost  less  than  a  hundred  pounds.' 
'  True,'  said  the  farmer,  '  but  you  do  not  tell  all  the  story.  I  think 
the  cap  was  nevertheless  an  advantage  to  us,  for  it  was  the  first 
thing  that  put  our  girls  upon  knitting  worsted  mittens  for  sale  at 
Philadelphia,  that  they  might  have  wherewithal  to  buy  caps  and 
ribbons  there ;  and  you  know  that  that  industry  has  continued,  and 
is  likely  to  continue  and  increase  to  a  much  greater  value,  and 
answer  better  purposes.'  Upon  the  whole,  I  was  more  reconciled 
to  this  little  piece  of  luxury,  since  not  only  the  girls  were  made 
happier  by  having  fine  caps,  but  the  Philadelphians  by  the  supply 
of  warm  mittens,  "f 

It  was  well  for  the  colonies  that  Franklin  put  the  post-oflSce  in 
order  just  when  he  did;  for,  before  another  year  rolled  round,  its 
best  facilities  were  put  into  constant  requisition  for  organizing  defense 
against  the  combined  forces  of  a  savage  and  a  civilized  foe.  The 
colonies  were  on  the  eve  of  that  Seven  Years'  War,  in  the  course  of 
which  it  was  decided,  among  other  things,  which  should  possess 

*  Wm.  Temple  Franklin's  "Memoirs  of  Franklin,"  vol.  i.,  p.  448. 
i-  Franklin  to  Benjamin  Vaughan,  1784.    Sparks,  ii.,  440. 


AGED  47.]  THE  SEVEN  YEAEs'  WAR.  335 

the  continent  of  North  America,  the  Briton  or  the  Gaul.  Franklin 
bore  his  part  in  that  momentous  contest,  serving  his  country  both 
in  the  council  and  in  the  field. 


CHAPTER    II. 

Tn±    SEVEN   years'   WAR. 

To  expel  the  French  from  North  America  was,  for  seventy-five 
years,  the  darling  desire  of  the  colonists,  particularly  those  of  New 
England.  The  French  interfered  with  their  fisheries.  The  French 
estranged  their  Indians.  The  French  threatened  the  Western  coun- 
try. The  French  were  the  natural  enemies  of  Britons.  The  French 
were  Roman  Catholics.  And,  to  conclude  the  list  of  grievances, 
the  French,  by  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  had  grown  to  be  for- 
midable. They  held  all  Canada,  claimed  the  Valley  of  the  Missis- 
sippi, and  were  preparing  to  hem  in  the  English  by  a  line  of  forts 
from  Niagara  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 

Three  times  in  North  America,  already,  the  French  and  English 
had  measured  their  strength  in  arms.  In  the  reign  of  William  III., 
during  the  eight  years'  war  of  that  sovereign  with  Louis  XIV.  of 
France,  the  New  Englanders  made  a  gallant  attempt  against  Can- 
ada. Two  thousand  men  under  Sir  William  Phipps  sailed  from 
Boston  in  thirty  or  forty  transports.  The  expedition,  which  was  a 
most  prodigious  effort  for  those  infant  colonies,  ended  in  frustra- 
tion, wreck,  small-pox,  and  chronic  paper-money.  This  war,  which 
was  called  by  the  colonists  King  William's  War,  ended  in  1697. 
After  five  years  of  peace.  Queen  Anne's  War  began — that  long  con- 
test in  which  Marlborough  won  his  most  brilliant  victories,  and 
which  ended  with  the  treaty  of  Utrecht,  in  1713.  Again,  New 
England,  or  we  might  rather  say,  Massachusetts,  put  forth  exer- 
tions gloriously  disproportioned  to  her  wealth  and  numbers.  Bos- 
ton was  fortified ;  Yankee  privateers  scoured  the  ocean.  Four 
regiments  of  New  Englanders  accompanied  the  mighty  expedition 
of  fifteen  men-of-war  and  forty  transports,  that  was  designed  to 
make  a  complete  conquest   of  Canada.     A  storm   scattered    and 


336  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l754. 

shattered  this  great  fleet,  and  many  other  disasters  befell  the  valiant 
and  generous  sons  of  Massachusetts.  But  the  treaty  of  Utrecht 
recognized  their  patriotic,  their  unexampled  sacrifices,  by  ceding 
Nova  Scotia  to  the  dominion  of  Britain.  Then  there  were  thirty 
years  of  peace,  during  which  Queen  Anne  died,  George  I.  reigned, 
and  George  11.  succeeded  him.  From  1744  to  1748,  war  again 
raged  on  both  Continents,  and  again  from  Boston  sailed  a  powerful 
armament  against  the  possessions  of  the  French.  The  fortress  of 
Louisburg,  in  the  Island  of  Cape  Breton,  surrendered  to  the  brave 
'New  Englanders  under  their  own  Sir  William  Pepperell  and 
Commodore  Tyng,  an  event  which  was  celebrated  throughout  the 
colonies  with  fire-works,  illuminations,  and  thanksgivings.  The 
fortress  was  given  up  at  the  treaty  of  Aix-la-Chapelle ;  the  valor 
and  conduct  of  New  England  thus  atoning  for  the  failures  and 
blunders  of  Old  England's  generals  on  the  continent  of  Europe. 
This  war  was  called  by  the  colonists  King  George's  War. 

When  powerful  States  make  peace,  not  because  either  of  them  is 
satisfied,  but  because  both  are  exhausted,  the  peace  generally  proves 
to  be  little  more  than  a  truce.  Accordingly,  the  peace  of  Aix-la- 
Chapelle,  which  was  made  because  France  was  tired,  and  England 
tired  out,  because  France  had  lost  every  thing  at  sea,  and  England 
was  in  danger  of  losing  every  thing  on  land,  was  of  such  short  dura- 
tion, that  as  early  as  1753,  the  colonies  began  to  prepare  for  their 
greatest,  their  final  struggle  with  the  French.  The  war  which  en- 
sued was  called  in  Europe  the  Seven  Years'  War,  but  it  began  in 
America  two  years  before  hostilities  were  commenced  in  iiurope. 
It  was  in  this  war  that  Frederick  II.,  of  Prussia,  performed  that 
startling  series  of  exploits  which  caused  him  to  be  called  "  the 
Great :"  in  this  war  that  young  Colonel  Washington  first  heard  the 
whistling  of  hostile  bullets,  which  he  said  was  music  in  his  ears : 
in  this  war  that  William  Pitt  doubled  the  consequence,  and  trebled 
the  arrogance  of  England  by  winning  Canada  and  India,  after  a 
series  of  intoxicating  victories  by  sea  and  land. 

Assuming  that  the  reader  is  familiar  with  the  important  events 
of  this  war,  we  have  only  to  relate  the  useful  and  not  unimportant 
part  played  in  it  by  the  unwarlike  Franklin. 

In  Jvme,  1754,  we  find  him  at  the  old  Dutch  town  of  Albany,  in 
the  province  of  New  York,  a  conspicuous  figure  in  a  scene  that 
was  animated  and  j^icturesque.     Twenty-five  of  the  leading  men  of 


AGED  48.]  THE   SEVEN    YBAES'    WAR.  337 

the  seven  Northern  colonies  were  there  assembled  by  the  orders  of 
the  home  government,  for  the  purpose  of  meeting  the  chiefs  of  the 
Six  Nations,  and  concerting  measures  with  them  for  the  defense  of 
the  country.  The  four  Commissioners  sent  to  this  Conference  by 
the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania  were  John  Penn,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
Richard  Peters,  and  Isaac  Norris.  One  of  the  members  from  Mas- 
sachusetts was  that  Thomas  Hutchinson,  afterwards  Governor  of 
Massachusetts,  with  whom  Franklin  was  destined  in  later  years  to 
have  much  to  do.  James  De  Lancey,  Lieutenant-Governor  of  New 
York,  whose  name  survives  in  that  of  one  of  the  streets  of  the  city  in 
which  he  lived,  was  chosen  to  preside  over  this  Assembly.  The 
town  was  filled  with  a  concourse  of  Indians,  the  hereditary  allies  of 
the  English,  and  the  hereditary  enemies  of  the  French.  All  the 
Commissioners  brought  presents  for  the  tribes,  and  many  days  were 
passed  in  disti-ibuting  these,  and  in  holding  those  solemn  and  tedi- 
ous Talks  in  which  Indians  delight.  The  Indian  business,  however, 
does  not  concern  us,  nor  was  that  the  chief  object  of  the  gathering. 

No  sooner  had  it  become  clear  to  Franklin  that  the  French  meant 
war,  than  his  mind  darted  to  the  best  means  of  resisting  the  attack. 
The  French  power  in  North  America  was  wielded  by  a  single  hand, 
and  all  their  measures  were  parts  of  one  scheme.  The  power  of 
England,  on  the  contrary,  was  dissipated  among  many  governments, 
always  independent  of  one  another,  often  a  little  jealous,  and  never 
too  cordial  or  neighborly.  We  must  unite^  or  he  overcome^  said 
Franklin.  In  May,  1754,  just  before  leaving  home  to  attend  the 
Congress  at  Albany,  he  published  an  article  to  this  effect  in  the 
Gazette^  and  appended  to  it  one  of  those  allegorical  wood-cuts  of 
which  he  was  so  fond.  It  was  the  picture  of  a  snake  cut  into  as 
many  pieces  as  there  were  colonies,  each  piece  having  upon  it  the 
first  letter  of  the  name  of  a  colony,  and  under  the  whole,  in  capital 
letters,  appeared  the  words.  Join  or  Die.  On  his  way  from  Phila- 
delphia to  New  York,  he  drew  up  a  plan  for  the  union  of  the 
colonies,  which,  being  approved  by  several  of  his  friends,  he  deter- 
mined to  offer  to  the  consideration  of  the  Congress. 

Upon  arriving  at  Albany,  he  found  that  the  necessity  of  union 
was  felt  by  all  tlie  members,  several  of  whom  had  even  prepared 
plans  of  union.  A  committee  of  seven  was  appointed  to  consider 
the  subject,  one  from  each  province  ;  Franklin  representing  Pennsyl- 
vania, and  Ilutchhison,  Massachusetts.  Franklin  exhibited  his  plan, 
15 


338  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1754. 

which  was  duly  considered,  and  compared  with  those  drawn  up  by 
other  members.  His  was  preferred,  amended,  reported,  and  after 
twelve  days'  debate,  approved  by  the  Congress,  and  commended  to 
the  favorable  consideration  of  Parliament  and  the  king,  without 
whose  authority,  it  was  agreed,  nothing  could  be  done. 

Franklin's  scheme  of  union  was  remarkably  similar  to  that  by 
which  these  States  were  afterwards  made  one  nation.  Each  prov- 
ince was  to  preserve  its  independence,  except  so  far  as  might  be 
necessary  to  enable  the  colonies  to  present  to  an  enemy  a  united 
front,  and  fight  him  with  one  plan,  one  purse,  and  one  head.  A 
President-General,  appointed  and  supported  by  the  king,  was  to 
administer  the  affairs  of  the  general  government.  A  Grand  Council 
of  forty-eight  members,  chosen  by  the  several  Assemblies,  should 
constitute  the  parliament  of  the  confederation  ;  to  meet  once  a  year, 
and  the  members  to  serve  three  years.  Philadelphia,  the  most 
central  large  town,  should  be  the  place  of  meeting,  until  otherwise 
appointed.  The  President-General,  and  seven  members  of  the 
Grand  Council,  should  have  the  power  to  summon  the  Grand  Council 
on  any  emergency.  The  Grand  Council  should  choose  their  own 
speaker,  and  neither  be  dissolved,  nor  prorogued,  nor  detained 
longer  than  six  weeks,  without  their  own  consent,  or  the  king's 
command.  The  members  of  the  Grand  Council  should  be  paid  ten 
shillings  a  day,  and  ten  shillings  for  every  twenty  miles  of  travel. 
No  act  of  the  Grand  Council  to  be  valid  without  the  assent  of  the 
President-General.  The  President-General,  with  the  advice  and 
consent  of  the  Grand  Council,  to  make  all  Indian  treaties ;  to  regu- 
late the  Indian  trade ;  to  declare,  conduct,  and  terminate  Indian 
wars ;  to  purchase  Indian  lands ;  to  make  and  govern  new  settle- 
ments beyond  the  boundaries  of  the  old  colonies ;  to  raise,  pay,  and 
direct  soldiers ;  to  build  ships  of  war  and  forts ;  to  levy  taxes  for 
the  support  of  the  general  government,  and  for  the  defense  of  the 
country.  All  the  acts  of  the  Grand  Council  were  to  accord  with 
the  laws  of  England,  and  to  be  submitted  to  the  king  in  council  for 
approbation.  The  President-General  to  nominate  all  officers  for  the 
military  and  naval  service  of  the  colonies,  but  none  to  be  commis- 
sioned until  approved  by  the  Grand  Council.  The  Grand  Council 
to  nominate  all  civil  officers,  but  none  to  be  employed  until  approved 
by  the  President-General.  In  cases  of  sudden  emergency,  each 
colony  could  adopt  any  requisite  measure  of  defense,  the  expense 


AGED  48.]  THE    SEVEX   YEAKS'    WAR.  339 

of  which,  if  just  and  reasonable,  should  be  discharged  by  the  general 
government. 

Such  is  an  outline  of  Franklin's  plan  of  union.  With  the  excep- 
tion of  the  Commissioners  from  Connecticut,  the  Conference  at 
Albany  approved  it  most  heartily,  and  the  people  generally  seem 
to  have  thought  well  of  it.  On  his  return  to  New  York,  Franklin 
was  the  object  of  unusual  attentions,  which,  I  think,  we  must  attrib- 
ute, in  part,  to  the  popularity  of  his  plan  of  union.  An  old  letter 
written  at  New  York,  July  iVth,  1754,  contains  this  sentence: 
"Gentlemen  have  been  this  hour  past  going  in  and  coming  out 
from  paying  their  comphments  to  Mr.  Franklin."*  And  there  are 
not  wanting  other  indications  that  his  scheme  met  with  great 
approval,  particularly  in  New  York  and  Massachusetts.  Neverthe- 
less, it  came  to  naught.  The  home  government  thought  it  danger- 
ously democratic,  and  calculated  to  make  the  colonies  too  formidable. 
Some  of  the  colonial  governors,  placemen,  and  legislators  perceived 
that  a  great  central  government  would  dwarf  their  consequence 
and  diminish  their  power.  Many  of  the  colonists,  too,  thought  the 
scheme  conceded  too  much  to  the  prerogative  of  the  King.  The 
Lords  of  Trade,  to  whom  it  was  transmitted,  did  not  deem  it 
worth  while  to  lay  it  before  the  administration,  but  concocted  a 
plan  of  their  own,  designed  merely  to  help  the  colonies  over  this 
one  crisis  ;  of  w'hich  more  anon. 

Another  favorite  project  of  Franklin's  was  much  discussed  among 
the  members  of  the  Albany  Conference.  He  was  of  opinion  that 
nothing  would  more  effectually  resist  the  encroachments  of  the 
French  than  to  plant  in  the  western  country,  beyond  the  Alle- 
ghanies,  one,  two,  or  three  powerful  colonies ;  the  enterprise  to  be 
undertaken  by  a  company,  and  the  first  expense  to  be  borne  by 
subscription.  Single  families  dared  not  penetrate  those  fertile 
regions  of  the  West,  which  swarmed  Avith  Indians  more  or  less 
under  tlie  influence  of  the  French.  But  a  hundred  families,  Frank- 
lin thought,  setting  out  together,  settling  in  one  neighborhood,  and 
;H-companied  by  a  body  of  adventurous  young  men,  would  be  un- 
molested, and,  at  the  same  time,  form  a  living,  impassable  barrier 
to  the  inroads  of  the  Indians  and  the  encroachments  of  the  French. 
"The  new  colonies,"  said  he,  "would  soon  be  full  of  people,  and 

*  Bancroffs  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  Iv.,  125 — note. 


34a  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN.  [l755. 

from  the  advantage  of  tlieir  situation,  become  much  more  terrible 
to  the  French  settlements,  than  those  are  now  to  us."  One  sen- 
tence in  Franklin's  paper  on  thi.  subject  contains  a  favorite  conceit 
of  his.  The  French,  said  he,  as  soon  as  war  breaks  out,  set  on  the 
Indians  to  kill  and  scalp  our  Western  settlers,  which  has  the  effect 
of  discouraging  marriages ;  "  thus  killing  thousands  of  our  children 
before  they  are  born." 

This  scheme,  wise  as  it  was,  found  small  favor  in  England  ;  and, 
indeed,  the  war  itself  soon  absorbed  all  minds  on  both  sides  of  the 
Atlantic.  Franklin  drops  a  remark  in  his  autobiography  which  is 
extremely  simple,  but  also  very  wise:  "Those  who  govern,  having 
much  business  on  their  hands,  do  not  generally  like  to  take  the 
trouble  of  considering  and  carrying  into  execution  new  projects, 
t  The  best  public  measures  are  therefore  seldom  adopted  from  pre- 
^    vious  wisdom,  but  forced  by  the  occasion." 

Besides,  at  that  time,  there  was  an  incredible  ignorance  in  Eng- 
land, and  even  in  the  government  offices,  respecting  America.  That 
was  the  period  when  a  man  could  be  colonial  minister  without 
knowing  the  names  of  England's  colonies.  That  was  the  •  time 
when  a  government  official  could  advise  a  colonial  governor  to  cut 
down  the  forests  behind  all  the  settlements,  in  order  to  prevent  the 
stealthy  approach  of  hostile  Indians.  That  was  the  time  when 
many  Englishmen  and  most  English  women  thought  that  Ameri- 
cans were  black.  Lord  Stirling  mentions  in  one  of  his  letters,  that 
on  being  introduced  to  a  lady  in  London,  as  a  "  native  American," 
she  could  not  conceal  her  amazement  that  he  was  a  white  man. 

Late  in  the  autumn  of  1754,  Franklin  left  his  home,  once  more, 
setting  his  face  northward,  toward  his  native  city.  At  Boston, 
where  he  w^as  then  held  in  high  and  general  esteem,  he  spent  many 
happy  days  of  the  winter,  conversing  with  old  friends  and  making 
new  ones.  His  visit  was  signalized  by  a  remarkable  event.  The 
English  plan  for  the  union  of  the  colonies  reached  Boston  during 
his  stay,  and  Governor  Shirley  show^ed  it  to  him,  and  asked  his 
opinion  of  it.  The  plan  was,  that  the  governors  of  all  the  colonies, 
each  attended  by  one  or  two  members  of  his  council,  should  assem- 
ble at  some  central  town,  and  there  concert  measures  of  defense, 
raise  troops,  order  the  construction  of  forts,  and  draw  on  the  Brit- 
ish treasury  for  the  whole  expense ;  the  treasury  to  be  afterwards 
reimbursed  by  a  tax  laid  on  the  colonics  by  a,n  act  of  Parliament. 


AGED  49.]  THE  SEYEK  YEARS'  WAR.  341 

Franklin  returned  the  draught  of  this  scheme  to  the  GoYcrnor,  with 
his  objections  to  it  in  writing.  He  perceiYed,  at  once,  all  the  latent 
mischief  of  the  scheme.  In  his  letters  to  the  Governor  upon  it,  he 
anticipated  the  whole  of  the  argument,  used  a  few  years  later,  in 
opposing  the  stamp  act. 

His  long  catalogue  of  objections  maybe  summed  up  in  the  words 
that  became  afterwards  so  familiar  to  the  colonists  :  '*  'No  taxation 
Avithout  representation."  The  colonists,  he  contended,  are  English- 
men !  The  accident  of  our  living  in  a  colony,  deprives  us  of  no 
right  secured  to  Englishmen  by  Magna  Charta.  "  The  people  in 
the  colonies,"  he  wrote,  "  who  are  to  feel  the  immediate  mischiefs 
of  invasion  and  conquest  by  an  enemy,  in  the  loss  of  their  estates, 
lives,  and  liberties,  are  likely  to  be  better  judges  of  the  quantity  of 
forces  necessary  to  be  raised  and  maintained,  forts  to  be  built  and 
supported,  and  of  their  own  abilities  to  bear  the  expense,  than  the 
Parliament  of  England,  at  so  great  a  distance."  Again  :  "  Compel- 
ling the  colonies  to  pay  money  without  their  consent,  would  be 
rather  like  raising  contributions  in  an  enemy's  country,  than  taxing 
of  Englishmen  for  their  own  public  benefit ;  it  would  be  treating 
them  as  a  conquered  people,  and  not  as  true  British  subjects." 
Again :  "  The  governors  often  come  to  the  colonies  merely  to  make 
fortunes,  with  which  they  intend  to  return  to  Britain ;  are  not  al- 
ways men  of  the  best  abilities  or  integrity ;  have  many  of  them  no 
estates  here,  nor  any  natural  connection  with  us,  that  should  make 
them  heartily  concerned  for  our  welfare ;  and  might  jDOssibly  be 
fond  of  raising  and  keeping  up  more  forces  than  necessary,  from  the 
profits  accruing  to  themselves." 

Finally,  he  declared  all  the  English  laws  which  made  the  slight- 
est difierence  between  Englishmen  living  in  England  and  English- 
men living  abroad,  to  be  both  unjust  and  unwise :  "  Could  the 
Goodwin  Sands  be  laid  dry  by  banks,  and  land  equal  to  a  large 
county  thereby  gained  to  England,  and  presently  filled  with  Eng- 
lish inhabitants,  would  it  be  right  to  deprive  such  inhabitants  of  the 
common  privileges  enjoyed  by  otiier  Englishmen,  the  right  of  vend- 
ing their  produce  in  the  same  ]3orts,  or  of  making  their  own  shoes, 
because  a  merchant  or  a  shoemaker,  living  on  the  old  land,  might 
fancy  it  more  for  his  advantage  to  trade  or  make  shoes  for  them  ? 
"Would  this  be  right,  even  if  the  land  were  gained  at  the  expense 
of  the  State  ?    And  would  it  not  seem  less  right,  if  the  charge  and 


842  LIFE    AND   Ti:\rES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l755. 

labor  of  gaining  the  additional  territory  to  Britain  had  been  borne 
by  the  settlers  themselves  ?  And  would  not  the  hardship  appear 
yet  greater,  if  the  people  of  the  new  country  should  be  allowed  no 
representatives  in  the  Parliament  enacting  such  impositions  ?" 

In  truth,  there  is  not  an  argument,  nor  an  idea  in  all  the  subse- 
quent stamp-act  debates  which  is  not  to  be  found  in  Franklin's 
letters  to  Governor  Shirley,  written  in  1755.  He  touched  the  sub- 
ject only  to  exhaust  it.  For  a  long  time,  however,  both  the  minis- 
terial scheme,  and  his  commentary  upon  it,  slept  together  in  the 
escritoir  of  Governor  Shirley.  The  war  was  blundered  through 
without  concert,  without  vigor,  and  with  grievous  losses  and  calam- 
ities ;  most  of  which  would  have  been  avoided  if  the  ministry  had 
trusted  more  to  colonial  patriotism,  knowledge,  and  ability,  and 
less  to  the  incompetent  Braddocks  and  Loudouns  of  their  own  se- 
lection. "  I  conquered  America  in  Germany,"  William  Pitt  used 
to  boast.  At  far  less  expense  than  he  incurred  in  subsidizing  Fred- 
erick of  Prussia,  he  could  have  conquered  America  in  America, 
by  Americans,  j  He  should  have  trusted  the  noblest,  fondest,  most 
loyal,  and  generous  colonists  a  nation  ever  had. 

Franklin  appears  to  have  had  a  peculiar  enjoyment  of  this  visit 
to  his  native  province.  "  I  left  New  England  slowly,"  he  wrote 
soon  after  his  return  home,  to  a  young  lady,  the  daughter  of  an  old 
New  England  friend,  "and  with  great  reluctance.  Short  day's 
journeys,  and  loitering  visits  on  the  road,  for  three  or  four  weeks, 
manifested  my  unwillingness  to  quit  a  country  in  which  I  drew  my 
first  breath,  spent  my  earliest  and  most  pleasant  days,  and  had  now- 
received  so  many  fresh  marks  of  the  people's  goodness  and  benevo- 
lence, in  the  kind  and  aifectionate  treatment  I  had  everywhere  met 
with.  I  almost  forgot  I  had  a  Aome,  till  I  was  more  than  half  way 
tow^ards  it ;  till  I  had,  one  by  one,  parted  with  all  my  New  England 
friends,  and  was  got  into  the  western  borders  of  Connecticut,  among 
mere  strangers.  Then,  like  an  old  man,  who  having  buried  all  he 
loved  in  this  world,  begins  to  think  of  heaven,  I  began  to  think  of 
and  wish  for  home;  and,  as  I  drew  nearer,  I  found  the  attraction 
stronger  and  stronger.  My  diligence  and  speed  increased  with  my 
impatience.  I  drove  on  violently,  and  made  such  long  stretches, 
that  a  very  few  days  brought  me  to  my  own  house,  and  to  the  arms 
of  my  good  old  wife  and  children,  where  I  remain,  thanks  to  God, 
at  present  well  and  happy." 


AGED  49.]  THE    SEYEN    YEAEs'    WAR.  343 

Ilis  letters  to  this  young  lady,  and  to  all  ladies,  had  much  in 
them  of  the  warmth  and  gallantry  that  were  then  allowed.  In  this 
same  letter  he  says  :  "  Persons  subject  to  the  hyp  complain  of  the 
northeast  wind,  as  increasing  their  malady.  But  since  you  prom- 
ised to  send  me  kisses  in  that  wind,  and  I  find  you  as  good  as  your 
word,  it  is  to  me  the  gayest  wind  that  blows,  and  gives  me  the 
best  spirits.  I  write  this  during  a  northeast  storm  of  snow,  the 
greatest  we  have  had  this  winter.  Your  favors  come  mixed  with 
the  snowy  fleeces,  which  are  pure  as  your  virgin  innocence,  white 
as  your  lovely  bosom,  and — as  cold.  But  let  it  warm  towards 
some  worthy  young  man,  and  may  Heaven  bless  you  both  with 
every  kind  of  happiness."* 

In  the  spring  of  1755,  Franklin  was  drawn  into  the  very  vortex 
of  colonial  afikirs. 

We  have  before  spoken  of  the  Governor  of  Pennsylvania,  as  an 
official  whose  place  was  not  enviable.  He  was  always,  and  una- 
voidably, embroiled  with  the  legislature ;  often  with  the  people, 
and  occasionally  with  his  masters  in  England.  Few  men  had  ever 
held  the  office  long,  and,  of  late  years,  it  had  been  constantly  becom- 
ing more  unmanageable.  The  Governor's  difficulties  were  these 
tv/o :  First,  The  Quakers,  for  a  long  time,  could  not  be  induced  to 
vote  money  for  any  warlike  purpose  ;  and  Secondly,  The  Governor 
was  strictly  enjoined  to  veto  every  tax-bill,  which  did  not  expressly 
exempt  from  taxation  the  immense  and  productive  estates  of  the 
Penns.  The  scruples  of  the  Quakers  were  at  length  overcome  or 
evaded.  But  the  Proprietaries,  with  "  incredible  meanness,"  as 
Franklin  thought,  insisted  on  the  exemption  of  their  estates  from 
taxation,  even  in  times  of  imminent  public  peril,  and  though  they 
had  a  larger  stake  in  the  safety  of  the  country  than  any  hundred 
of  its  inhabitants.  This  was  the  great  and  constant  cause  of  differ- 
ence between  the  governors  of  Pennsylvania  and  their  little  parlia- 
ment. The  Governor  could  not  yield  without  losing  more  than  his 
place  ;  for  the  Proprietaries  had  recently  compelled  their  governors 
to  give  bonds  for  their  adherence  to  this  offensive  article  of  their 
instructions.  The  Assembly  could  not  yield  without  base  compli- 
ance with  a  most  unjust  demand,  and  without  being  abhorred  by 
every  public-spirited  and  right-minded  man  in  the  province. 

♦  Franklin  to  Catherine  Ray,  1755.— Sparks,  vii.,  85. 


344  LIFE   AND   IIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1755. 

In  these  years  of  rumored  and  impending  war,  wlien  all  the  colo- 
nies were  called  upon  to  make  greater  exertions  and  support  heav- 
ier burdens  than  ever  before,  the  quarrel  had  become  intense. 
Governor  James  Hamilton,  worn  out  with  the  irreconcilable  dis- 
pute, threw  up  his  office  in  June,  1754,  and  the  Proprietaries  com- 
missioned Robert  Hunter  Morris  in  his  stead ;  who  chanced  to 
reach  New  York  when  Frankhn  was  passing  through  that  city,  on 
his  way  to  Boston,  late  in  the  autumn  of  the  same  year. 

Franklin  and  the  new  Governor  being  old  acquaintances,  had  an 
interview  on  this  occasion,  during  which  Morris  asked  Franklin 
whether  he  must  expect  an  uncomfortable  administration  ?  "  No," 
said  the  postmaster ;  "  you  may,  on  the  contrary,  have  a  very  com- 
fortable one,  if  you  will  only  take  care  not  to  enter  into  any  dis- 
pute with  the  Assembly."  "  My  dear  friend,"  said  the  Governor, 
"  how  can  you  advise  my  avoiding  disputes  ?  You  know  I  love 
disputing ;  it  is  one  of  my  greatest  pleasures ;  however,  to  show 
the  regard  I  have  for  your  coujasel,  I  promise  you  I  will,  if  possible, 
avoid  them." 

Franklin  continued  his  journey,  and,  after  a  few  weeks'  absence, 
was  again  at  New  York,  on  his  way  home.  "  There,"  he  wrote,  "  I 
met  with  the  votes  of  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  by  which  it 
appeared  that,  notwithstanding  his  promise  to  me,  he  and  the  house 
were  already  in  high  contention  ;  and  it  was  a  continual  battle  be- 
tween them  as  long  as  he  retained  the  government.  I  had  my 
share  of  it ;  for,  as  soon  as  I  got  back  to  my  seat  in  the  Assembly, 
I  was  put  on  every  committee  for  answering  his  speeches  and  mes- 
sages, and  by  the  committees  always  desired  to  make  the  draughts. 
Our  answers,  as  well  as  his  messages,  were  often  tart,  and  some- 
times indecently  abusive." 

Franklin,  with  his  usual  charity,  finds  an  excuse  for  this  disputa- 
tious Governor  :  "  He  had  some  reason  for  loving  to  dispute,  being 
eloquent,  an  acute  sophister,  and,  therefore,  generally  successful  in 
argumentative  conversation.  He  had  been  brought  up  to  it  from  a 
boy ;  his  father,  as  I  have  heard,  accustoming  his  children  to  dis- 
pute with  one  another  for  his  diversion,  while  sitting  at  table  after 
dinner ;  but  I  think  the  practice  was  not  wise ;  for,  in  the  course 
of  my  observation,  those  disputing,  contradicting,  and  confuting 
people  are  generally  unfortunate  in  their  afiairs." 

On  one  occasion,  I  perceive,  Franklin  deliberately  and  openly  dis- 


AGED  49.]  THE   SEVEN"   YEARS'    WAR.  345     ^ 

obeyed  the  Governor's  express  commands.  Certain  letters  had 
come  out  from  Sir  Thomas  Robinson,  a  member  of  the  Home 
Government,  which  ftivored  the  claims  of  the  Assembly,  and  had 
been  read  and  considered  by  that  body.  The  letters  rebuked  the 
Governor  for  his  inattention  to  the  defense  of  the  frontiers,  and 
conveyed  to  him  "  the  express  commands  of  the  king,"  that  he 
"  should  act  vigorously,"  both  in  repelling  attacks  upon  his  own 
province,  and  in  assisting  the  governors  of  other  colonies  to  defend 
their  borders.  These  epistles  from  a  British  Secretary  of  State 
were,  of  course,  a  great  triumph  to  the  popular  party  in  the  House, 
and,  consequently,  the  Governor  ordered  Franklin  &  Hall,  printers 
to  the  Assembly,  to  omit  those  letters  from  their  printed  report  of 
the  proceedings.  Messrs.  Franklin  &  Hall,  in  a  letter  written  with 
Franklin's  inimitable  audacity  and  adroitness,  refused  to  obey  their 
order ;  and  after  consulting  the  House,  printed  the  letters  in  the  >^ 
proceedings.* 

Amid  all  this  contention,  Franklin  and  the  Governor  were  on  ex- 
cellent terms  with  one  another ;  the  Governor  frequently  asking  his 
advice,  and  inviting  him  to  dinner.  Franklin  relates  an  anecdote  of 
their  intercourse  :  "  One  afternoon,  in  the  hight  of  this  public  quar- 
rel, we  met  in  the  street ;  '  Franklin,'  said  he,  '  you  must  go  home 
with  me  and  spend  the  evening  ;  I  am  to  have  some  company  that 
you  will  like  ;'  and,  taking  me  by  the  arm,  led  me  to  his  house.  In 
gay  conversation  over  our  wine  after  supper,  he  told  us  jokingly 
that  he  much  admired  the  idea  of  Sancho  Panza,  who,  when  it  was 
proposed  to  give  him  a  government,  requested  it  might  be  a  govern- 

*  Feanklin  &  Hall  to  Gov.  Moreis. 

March  20, 1T55. 
Sib: — We  should,  with  great  readiness  and  submission,  have  obeyed  your  Honour's  Com- 
mands, in  forbearing  to  publish  the  two  letters  from  Sir  Thomas  Eobinson ,  of  July  the  5th,  and 
October  tho  26th,  were  it  only  a  concern  of  our  own,  or  a  matter  in  our  disposition.  But  as  those 
letters  are  contained  in  the  votes  and  proceedings  of  the  Assembly,  and  inserted  therein  by  their 
order,  we  could  not  omit  thcra  without  obtaining  the  directions  of  the  House.  To  that  end  wo 
laid  the  commands  received  from  your  Honour  before  the  Assembly,  but  the  House  has  expressly 
ordered  us  to  proceed  directly  in  publishing  the  votes  containing  those  letters;  and  we  being, 
as  their  printer,  the  immediate  servants  of  the  House,  are  obliged  in  this  manner  to  obey  their 
orders.  We  therefore  hope  your  Honour  will  excuse  us,  and  believe  us  to  be,  with  all  possible 
respect, 

Your  Honour's  most  obedient  and  most  humble  servants, 

Franklin  &  Hall. 
To  the  Honble.  Governor  Morris.  Pennsylvania  Archives,  1748-56,  p.  274. 

[A  note  states  that  the  above  letter  was  in  Franklin's  handwritinc:.] 
16* 


346  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [l755. 

menfc  of  blacks  ;  as  then,  if  he  could  not  agree  with  his  people,  he 
might  sell  them.  One  of  his  friends,  who  sat  next  to  me,  said, 
'  Franklin,  why  do  you  continue  to  side  with  those  Quakers  ?  had 
you  not  better  sell  them  ?  the  proprietor  would  give  you  a  good 
price.'  '  The  Governor,'  said  I,  '  has  not  yet  blacked  them 
enough.'  He,  indeed,  had  labored  hard  to  blacken  the  Assembly 
in  all  his  messages." 

The  Quakers,  be  it  remarked,  objected  to  the  appropriation  of 
money  for  warlike  objects,  but  were  i\\x  more  resolutely  opposed 
to  the  exemption  of  the  Penn  estate  from  taxation.  Probably,  too, 
the  Quakers  had  never  quite  forgiven  the  sons  of  their  revered 
founder  for  not  adhering  to  the  sect  he  had  so  loved.  Franklin 
Avas  with  the  Quakers  on  the  exemption  question,  though  against 
them  on  that  of  military  appropriations. 

In  one  signal  instance  he  was  enabled  to  defeat  the  governor,  or 
rather,  to  get  at  the  public  money  without  his  concurrence.  Mas- 
sachusetts, that  has  borne  the  brunt  of  all  American  wars,  except__ 
the  two  that  ought  not  to  have  been  waged,  was  prompt  on  this 
,^^^  occasion  also,  and  plMhed  an  expedrtidn  against  Crown  Point. 
Edmund  Quincy  came  to  Philadelphia  to  solicit  from  the  Assembly 
of  Pennsylvania  a  grant  of  money  in  aid  of  the  gallant  enterprise. 
Kemembering,  doubtless,  the  incident  of  the  grape-vines,  before  re- 
lated, he  called  upon  Franklin  for  advice  how  to  proceed.  Frank- 
lin, entering  heartily  into  the  business,  dictated  Mr.  Quincy's 
petition,  and  advocated  it  in  the  Assembly,  who  speedily  voted  a 
grant  of  ten  thousand  pounds.  The  same  bill  contained  other 
clauses,  granting  various  sums  for  the  service  of  the  king;  for  Gen. 
Braddock  had  now  arrived  in  Virginia  with  his  fated  army,  and 
all  the  colonies  resounded  with  warlike  preparation.  The  Governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  however,  being  bound  by  his  inexorable  instruc- 
tions, was  obliged  to  refuse  his  assent  to  the  bill,  unless  the  hateful 
clause  were  inserted,  exempting  the  proprietary  estate. 

In  this  extremity,  Franklin  resorted  to  management.  There  was 
a  Loan  Office  in  the  province,  upon  the  trustees  of  which  the  As- 
sembly had  a  legal  right  to  draw  without  the  authorization  of  the 
governor.  There  was  little  money  at  the  time  in  the  custody  of 
the  trustees,  but  Franklin  proposed  to  raise  the  sum  required  by 
orders  payable  in  a  year,  bearing  interest  at  five  per  cent.  The 
security  being   ample  and   the  interest  liberal,    the  orders  were 


AGED  49.]  THE   SEVEN   YEAES'   WAE.  347 

eagerly  bought,  and  Mr.  Qnincy  soon  departed,  rejoicing  to  have 
succeeded  in  his  mission.  "  He  ever  after,"  says  Franklin,  "  bore 
me  the  most  cordial  and  affectionate  friendship ;"  a  friendship,  we 
shall  find,  that  was  shared  by  others  of  the  ancient  and  honorable 
name  of  Quincy. 

The  loyal  Pennsylvanians,  meanwhile,  had  heard  that  the  refusal 
of  the  Assembly  to  vote  money  for  the  king's  service  had  been  mis- 
understood by  General  Braddock,  who  was  then  at  Fredericktown, 
in  Maryland,  preparing  to  march  against  Fort  Duquesne.  That 
fiery  man  of  war  had  been  informed  by  some  intermeddling  liars,  that 
the  Pennsylvanians,  while  refusing  to  supply  the  army  of  the  king, 
had  been  selling  provisions  to  the  French,  had  refused  aid  in  open- 
ing a  road  to  the  western  country,  and  withheld  horses  and  wagons 
from  the  British  camp.  General  Braddock,  it  was  said,  was  more 
intent  to  ravage  Pennsylvania  than  to  defeat  the  French.  In  these 
circumstances,  the  Assembly  requested  Franklin  to  go  to  the  Gen- 
eral's camp,  and  explain  their  conduct.  He  was  to  go,  not  as  com- 
missioned by  them,  but  as  postmaster-general,  to  arrange  a  plan  by 
which  General  Braddock  could  communicate  quickly  and  safely 
with  the  colonial  governors.  Franklin  accepted  the  mission,  mount- 
ed his  horse,  and  set  out  for  the  camp  early  in  April.  Frederick- 
town  is  distant  from  Philadelphia  about  one  hundred  and  twenty 
miles.  The  postmaster-general  was  accompanied  by  the  Governor 
of  New  York,  the  Governor  of  Massachusetts,  and  by  his  son 
William ;  the  governors  having  been  summoned  to  confer  with  the 
general. 

Tlie  four  gentlemen  and  their  servants,  all  well  mounted  we  may 
be  sure,  rode  southward  through  the  woods  in  the  pleasant  April 
days,  a^ot  in  a  hurry,  as  we  should  be ;  but  with  a  certain  leisure 
and  dignity  becoming  royal  governors  and  famous  philosophers.  At 
night,  they  slept  in  some  hospitable  mansion  by  the  way,  the  mas- 
ter of  which,  duly  notified  of  their  coming,  would  ride  a  few  miles 
to  meet  them  and  give  them  respectful  escort  to  his  home.  One 
most  pleasing  glimpse  we  catch  of  this  brave  company  as  they 
rode  through  Maryland.  The  narrative  occurs  in  one  of  Franklin's 
letters  of  this  year  to  his  old  correspondent,  Peter  Collinson,  to 
whom,  in  the  midst  of  war,  he  wrote  occasionally  a  letter  upon  some 
scientific  topic. 

"  Being  in  Maryland,"  wrote  the  watchful  philosopher,  "  riding 


348  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMII^^   FRANKLIN.  [1755. 

with  Colonel  Tasker,  and  some  other  gentlemen,  to  his  country-seat, 
where  I  and  my  son  were  entertained  by  that  amiable  and  worthy 
man  with  great  hospitality  and  kindness,  we  saw,  in  the  vale  below 
us,  a  small  whirlwind  beginning  in  the  road,  and  showing  itself  by 
the  dust  it  raised  and  contained.  It  appeared  in  the  form  of  a 
sugar-loaf  spinning  on  its  point,  moving  up  the  hill  towards  us,  en- 
larging as  it  came  forward.  When  it  passed  by  us,  its  smaller  part 
near  the  ground  appeared  no  bigger  than  a  common  barrel ;  but, 
widening  upwards,  it  seemed,  at  forty  or  fifty  feet  high,  to  be  twenty 
or  thirty  feet  in  diameter.  The  rest  of  the  company  stood  looking 
after  it ;  but,  my  curiosity  being  stronger,  I  followed  it,  riding 
close  by  its  side,  and  observed  its  licking  up,  in  its  progress  all  the 
dust  that  was  under  its  smaller  part.  As  it  is  a  common  opinion  that 
a  shot  fired  through  a  water-spout  will  break  it,  I  tiied  to  break  this 
little  whirlwind  by  striking  my  whip  frequently  through  it,  but 
without  any  effect.  Soon  after,  it  quitted  the  road  and  took  into 
the  woods,  growing  every  moment  larger  and  stronger,  raising, 
instead  of  dust,  the  old  dry  leaves  with  which  the  ground  was  thickly 
covered,  and  making  a  great  noise  with  them  and  the  branches  of 
the  trees,  bending  some  tall  trees  round  in  a  circle  swiftly  and  very 
surprisingly,  though  the  progressive  motion  of  the  whirl  was  not 
so  swift  but  that  a  man  on  foot  might  have  kept  pace  with  it ;  but 
the  circular  motion  was  amazingly  rapid.  By  the  leaves  it  was  now 
filled  with,  I  could  plainly  perceive,  that  the  current  of  air  they 
were  driven  by,  moved  upwards  in  a  spiral  line ;  and  when  I  saw 
the  passing  whirl  continue  entire,  after  leaving  the  trunks  and 
bodies  of  large  trees  which  it  had  enveloped,  I  no  longer  wondered 
that  my  whip  had  no  effect  on  it  in  its  smaller  state.  I  accompa- 
nied it  about  three  quarters  of  a  mile,  till  some  limbs  of  dead  trees, 
broken  off  by  the  whirl,  flying  about  and  falling  near  me,  made 
me  more  apprehensive  of  danger ;  and  then  I  stopped,  looking  at 
the  top  of  it  as  it  went  on,  which  was  visible,  by  means  of  the 
leaves  contained  in  it,  for  a  very  great  hight  above  the  trees.  Many 
of  the  leaves,  as  they  got  loose  from  the  upper  and  widest  part, 
were  scattered  in  the  wind ;  but  so  great  was  their  hight  in  the 
air,  that  they  appeared  no  bigger  than  flies.  My  son,  who  was  by 
this  time  come  up  with  me,  followed  the  whirlwind  till  it  left  the 
woods,  and  crossed  an  old  tobacco-field,  where,  finding  neither  dust 
nor  leaves  to  take  up,  it  gradually  became  invisible  below,  as  it 


AGED    49.]  THE   SEVEN   TEAEs'   WAE.  349 

went  away  over  that  field.  The  course  of  the  general  wind  then 
blowing  was  along  with  us  as  we  traveled,  and  the  progressive 
motion  of  the  whirlwind  was  in  a  direction  nearly  opposite,  though 
it  did  not  keep  a  straight  line,  nor  was  its  progressive  motion 
uniform,  it  making  little  sallies  on  either  hand  as  it  went,  proceeding 
sometimes  faster  and  sometimes  slower,  and  seeming  sometimes  for 
a  few  seconds  almost  stationary,  then  starting  forward  pretty  fast 
again.  When  we  rejoined  the  company,  they  were  admiring  the 
vast  hight  of  the  leaves  non^  brought  by  the  common  wind  over 
our  heads.  These  leaves  accompanied  us  as  we  traveled,  some 
falling  now  and  then  round  about  us,  and  some  not  reaching  the 
ground  till  we  had  gone  near  three  miles  from  the  place  where  we 
first  saw  the  whirlwind  begin.  Upon  my  asking  Colonel  Tasker  if 
such  whirlwinds  were  common  in  Maryland,  he  answered  pleasant- 
ly, *  No,  not  at  all  common  ;  but  we  got  this  on  purpose  to  treat 
Mr.  Franklin.'     And  a  very  high  treat  it  was."* 

Arrived  in  camp,  Franklin  found  himself  in  a  novel  and  stirring 
scene.  Mr.  Thackeray,  in  his  novel  of  the  Virginians,  untrameled 
by  the  commonplace  necessity  of  adhering  to  truth,  has  gi\'en  free 
play  to  his  imagination  in  describing  General  Braddock's  head-quar- 
ters, where  were  now  assembled  the  most  noted  men  of  the  colo- 
nies, governors,  lieutenant-governors,  members  of  councils.  Colonel 
Washington,  a  host  of  Virginians,  and  several  English  ofiicers 
known  to  fame.  According  to  the  novel,  "  the  little  postmaster 
of  Philadelphia," (who  stood  five  feet  ten  in  his  shoes),  and  who  had 
not  been  in  England  ''  more  than  once,"  plays  an  insignificant  though 
a  somewhat  useful  part  in  that  showy  gathering.  He  figures  as  a 
learned  and  sagacious  butler  might  figure  in  some  Castle  Rackrent 
of  the  last  century — a  wonderful  creature  considering  his  opportu- 
nities. Indeed,  General  Braddock  is  made  to  say  to  Mr.  Franklin, 
that  it  was  extraordinary  "  a  person  of  such  humble  origin  should 
have  acquired  such  a  variety  of  learning,  and  such  politeness  of 
breeding ;"  which  precious  compliment  the  little  postmaster  is  repre- 
sented as  accepting  with  seeming  meekness.  We,  being  obliged  to 
content  ourselves  with  unromantic  fact,  must  needs  give  a  difierent 
account  of  Mr.  Franklin's  position  and  conduct  while  at  head- 
quarters. 

*  Sparks,  vi.,  201. 


350  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIK  FRANKLIN.  [l'/55. 

His  first  duty  was  to  remove  from  General  Braddock's  mind  the 
ill  opinion  he  had  imbibed  of  Pennsylvania.  Dining  with  the  Gen- 
eral every  day,  he  had  abundant  opportunity  to  converse  with  him, 
and  soon  made  it  clear  that  the  king  had  no  subjects  more  loyal, 
and  the  French  no  enemies  more  decided,  than  the  people  of  Penn- 
sylvania. After  a  stay  of  a  week  or  more,  as  Franklin  was  about 
to  leave,  the  officers  returned  to  camp  who  had  been  scouring  Vir- 
ginia and  Maryland  in  search  of  wagons  for  the  army.  At  that 
time,  wagons  had  not  yet  become  universal  among  farmers ;  it  was 
only  in  the  best  farming  counties  of  the  northern  provinces  that  a 
farmer  had  a  wagon  as  a  matter  of  course.  Twenty  years  before 
this  time,  a  wagon  was  a  curiosity  in  most  parts  of  the  continent-. 
In  1755,  when  General  Braddock  wanted  wagons  to  transport  his 
baggage  to  Fort  Duquesne,  his  officers  could  hire  but  twenty-five 
in  the  two  provinces  of  Virginia  and  Maryland.  There  were,  prob- 
ably, many  hundreds  of  people  in  the  southern  colonies  who  had 
never  seen  a  four-wheeled  vehicle.  In  vain  did  General  Braddock 
bluster,  threaten  and  entice ;  the  wagons  could  not  be  had,  because 
the  wagons  in  that  region  did  not  exist.  He  denounced  the  minis- 
try for  sending  an  army  into  a  country  where  the  means  of  trans- 
portation could  not  be  procurer!.  He  declared  the  expedition 
impossible,  since  the  army  could  not  move  inland  without  two  hun- 
dred wagons  and  a  great  train  of  pack  horses. 

Franklin,  who  was  present  when  the  irate  General  was  thus  re- 
lieving his  mind,  chanced  to  say,  he  thought  it  was  a  pity  the  army 
had  not  landed  in  Pennsylvania,  where  every  farmer  had  a  wagon. 
The  General  turned  eagerly  to  him  and  said  :  "  Then  you.  Sir,  who 
are  a  man  of  interest  there,  can  probably  procure  them  for  us,  and 
I  beg  you  will  undertake  it."  Franklin  asked  what  terms  were 
to  be  ofifered  to  the  owners  of  the  wagons.  He  was  told  to  put  on 
paper  the  tenns  he  thought  necessary.  His  schedule  being  approved, 
he  accepted  the  commission,  received  the  requisite  papers  and  a 
sum  of  money,  mounted  his  horse,  and,  accompanied  by  his  son, 
rode  away  to  Lancaster  in  Pennsylvania,  sixty  miles  distant. 

Franklin  managed  the  affiiir  with  admirable  tact.  He  selected  three 
centers  of  operation,  Lancaster,  York,  and  Carlisle,  each  the  chief 
town  of  a  well  populated  county.  He  remained  himself  in  Lancaster 
and  York  counties,  and  sent  his  son  to  Carlisle  in  Cumberland.  He 
published  an  advertisement  to  the  farmers,  in  which  he  artfully  ap- 


AGED    49.]  THE    SEVEN   YEAES'    WaE.  351 

pealed  to  each  of  the  great  motives  that  induce  men  to  depart  from 
the  routine  of  their  lives — self-interest,  fear,  pride,  and  generosity. 
First,  he  states  with  exactness  the  terms  upon  which  the  wagons 
and  horses  were  to  be  hired :  for  a  wagon,  four  good  horses  and  a 
driver,  fifteen  shillings  a  day;  a  pack-horse  with  a  saddle,  two 
shillings ;  pack-horse  without  a  saddle,  eighteen  pence ;  pay  to  be- 
gin on  joining  the  army,  w^hich  must  be  done  within  twenty-four 
days :  all  v,^agons  or  horses  lost  or  injured,  to  be  paid  for  by  the 
government,  the  amount  to  be  fixed  by  three  disinterested  persons  ; 
seven  days'  pay  to  be  advanced  by  Franklin ;  no  driver  to  be  requir- 
ed to  fight.  To  the  statement  of  terms,  he  appended  an  Address,  in 
which  he  wrought  upon  the  fears  and  the  loyalty  of  the  farmers. 
There  was  a  terrible  Quartermaster-General,  St.  Clair,  belonging  to 
Gen.  Braddoek's  army,  who  was  held  in  dread  among  the  people 
of  these  counties,  and  who  had  threatened  to  send  parties  of  sol- 
diers through  the  country,  and  seize  wagons  and  horses.  So,  after 
expatiating  upon  the  liberality  of  the  terms  ofiered  by  the  govern- 
ment, he  wound  up  his  address  in  these  words  : 

"  If  you  do  not  this  service  to  your  king  and  country  voluntarily, 
when  such  good  pay  and  reasonable  terms  are  ofiered  to  you,  your 
loyalty  Avill  be  strongly  suspected.  The  king's  business  must  be 
done ;  so  many  brave  troops,  come  so  far  for  your  defense,  must 
not  stand  idle  through  your  backwardness  to  do  what  may  be  rea- 
sonably expected  from  you ;  wagons  and  horses  must  be  had ;  vio- 
lent measures  will  probably  be  used ;  and  you  will  be  left  to  seek 
for  a  recompense  where  you  can  find  it,  and  your  case  perhaps  be  little 
pitied  or  regarded.  I  have  no  particular  interest  in  this  affair,  as, 
except  the  satisfaction  of  endeavoring  to  do  good,  I  shall  have  only 
my  labor  for  my  pains.  If  this  method  of  obtaining  the  wagons 
and  horses  is  not  likely  to  succeed,  I  am  obhged  to  send  word  to 
the  general  in  fourteen  days ;  and  I  suppose  Sir  John  St.  Clair,  the 
hussar,  with  a  body  of  soldiers,  will  immediately  enter  the  province 
for  the  purpose  ;  which  I  shall  be  sorry  to  hear,  because  I  am  very 
sincerely  and  truly  your  friend  and  w^ell-wisher." 

But  all  this  would  not  quite  do.  The  cunning  farmers  of  Lan- 
caster, York  and  Cumberland,  readers  of  Poor  Richard^  were  not 
satisfied  with  the  security  oflfered.  They  did  not  know  General 
Braddock,  nor  what  authority  he  had  to  pledge  the  king's  money 
chest.     To  remove  all  hesitation,  Franklin  gave  his  own  bonds  for 


352  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP  BENJAISHN   FEANKLIN.  [l755. 

the  faithful  performance  of  the  contracts,  and,  besides  paying  out 
the  seven  hundred  pounds  he  had  received  from  Braddock,  he  ad- 
vanced two  hundred  pounds  more  from  his  own  pocket.  He  re- 
turned to  camp,  having  spent  two  hundred  pounds  in  money,  and 
given  bonds  for  the  safe  return  of  twenty  thousand  pounds'  worth 
of  horses  and  wagons. 

His  success  was  triumphant.  In  twenty  days  from  the  date  of 
his  accepting  the  commission,  he  had  in  camp  one  hundred  and 
fifty  four-horse  wagons,  two  hundred  and  fifty-nine  pack  horses, 
and  a  considerable  quantity  of  hay  and  oats  for  their  subsistence. 
The  General  thanked  him  over  and  over  again,  repaid  the  sum  he 
had  advanced,  entreated  him  to  aid  in  forwarding  supplies  after  he 
should  have  marched,  and  mentioned  him  with  warm  commenda- 
tion in  his  dispatches  home.*  Franklin  undertook  the  superintend- 
ence of  the  supplies,  and  was  employed  in  that  business  for  several 
weeks. 

Who  now  so  welcome  at  the  regimental  mess,  or  at  the  general's 
head-quarters  as  Mr.  Franklin,  the  most  efficient  of  co-operators, 
the  most  entertaining  of  companions  ?  Supping  one  evening  with 
the  officers  of  a  regiment,  the  colonel  told  him  that  most  of  the 
subalterns,  having  little  more  than  their  pay,  were  unable  to  lay  in 
the  stores  necessary  for  so  long  a  march  through  the  wilderness, 
and  he  feared  they  would  suffer  much  for  the  want  of  them.  Frank- 
lin said  nothing,  but  resolved  to  make  an  attempt  to  supply  them. 
With  the  aid  of  his  son,  who  had  had  a  little  experience  of  camp 
life,  he  drew  up  a  list  of  the  stores  required,  and  enclosing  it  in  a 
letter  to  the  proper  committee  of  the  Pennsylvania  Assembly,  hur- 
ried off  his  son  with  it  to  Philadelphia.  At  that  day,  as  in  1861, 
no  people  knew  better  how  to  do  a  handsome  deed  handsomely 
than  the  Philadelphians.  The  committee  responded  to  Franklin's 
suggestion  with  such  celerity,  that  a  few  days  after,  William  Frank- 
lin returned  to  camp  at  the  head  of  a  train  of  twenty  pack-horses, 

*  General  Braddock  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  June  5,  1755  :— "  Before  I  left  Williamsburg,  the 
Quartermaster-General  told  me  that  I  might  depend  upon  twenty-five  hundred  horses  and  two 
hundred  wagons  from  Virginia  and  Maryland;  but  I  had  great  reason  to  doubt  it,  having  experi- 
enced the  false  dealings  of  all  in  this  country  with  whom  I  had  been  concerned.  Hence,  before 
my  departure  from  Frederic,  I  agreed  with  Mr.  Benjamin  Franklin,  postmaster  in  Pennsylvania, 
who  has  great  credit  in  that  province,  to  have  one  hundred  and  fifty  wagons,  and  the  necessary 
number  uf  horses.  This  he  accomplished  with  promptitude  and  fidelity,  and  it  is  almost  the 
only  instance  of  address  and  fidelity  which  I  have  seen  in  all  these  provinces."— /i§?arA;s''s  Wrii- 
ings  qf  WaHldngton^  ii.,  78. 


AGED    49.]  THE    SEVEN    YEARS'    WAR. 


353 


each  laden  with  a  parcel  of  stores,  and  each  horse  with  its  burthen 
being  sent  as  a  free  gift  from  Pennsylvania  to  one  of  the  subalterns. 
Every  officer  below  the  rank  of  captain,  was  provided  for.  Each 
parcel,  we  are  told,  contained  twelve  pounds  of  sugar,  two  pounds 
of  tea,  six  pounds  each  of  coffee  and  chocolate,  a  quantity  of  white 
biscuit,  six  pounds  each  of  rice  and  raisins,  two  hams,  six  tongues, 
two  dozen  of  Madeira,  two  gallons  of  rum,  twenty  pounds  of  butter, 
a  Gloucester  cheese,  and  the  proper  proportion  of  pepper,  vinegar, 
and  mustard. 

Before  the  army  marched.  General  Braddock  talked  freely  with 
Franklin  of  Jiis  plans.  "  After  taking  Fort  Duquesne,"  said  the 
general,  *'I  am  to  proceed  to  Niagara;  and  having  taken  that, 
to  Frontenac,  if  the  season  will  allow  time,  and  I  suppose  it  will ; 
for  Duquesne  can  hardly  detain  me  above  three  or  four  days ;  and 
then  I  see  nothing  that  can  obstruct  my  march  to  Niagara." 

Franklin  was  not  so  confident.  "Having  before,"  he  says,  "re- 
solved in  my  mind  the  long  line  his  army  must  make  in  their  march 
by  a  very  narrow  road,  to  be  cut  for  them  through  the  woods  and 
bushes ;  and  also  what  I  had  read  of  a  former  defeat  of  fifteen  hun- 
dred French  who  invaded  the  Illinois  country,  I  had  conceived 
some  doubts  and  some  fears  for  the  event  of  the  campaign.  But  I 
ventured  only  to  say,  '  To  be  sure,  sir,  if  you  arrive  well  before 
Duquesne,  with  these  fine  troops  so  well  provided  with  artillery,  the 
fort,  though  completely  fortified,  and  assisted  with  a  very  strong 
garrison,  can  probably  make  but  a  short  resistance.  The  only  dan- 
ger I  apprehend  of  obstruction  to  your  march,  is  from  the  ambus- 
cades of  the  Indians,  who,  by  constant  practice,  are  dexterous  in 
laying  and  executing  them ;  and  the  slender  line,  near  four  miles 
long,  which  your  army  must  make,  may  expose  it  to  be  attacked 
by  surprise  in  its  flanks,  and  to  be  cut  like  a  thread  into  several 
pieces,  which,  from  their  distance,  cannot  come  up  in  time  to  sup- 
port each  other.'  He  smiled  at  my  ignorance,  and  replied  :  '  These 
savages  may,  indeed,  be  a  formidable  enemy  to  your  raw  American 
militia ;  but  upon  the  king's  regular  and  disciplined  troops,  sir,  it 
is  impossible  they  should  make  any  impression.'  I  was  conscious 
of  an  impropriety  in  ray  disputing  with  a  military  man  in  matters 
of  his  profession,  and  said  no  more." 

Perhaps  young  Colonel  Washington  stood  by  and  heard  this  con- 
versation.    It  is  certain  that  he  pursued  the  same  argument  with 


364  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l756. 

the  general,  and  induced  him  at  length  to  shorten  his  line  of  march, 
and  take  some  precautions  against  surprise.  Colonel  Washington, 
I  may  add,  regarded  Franklin's  hundred  and  fifty  wagons  in  the 
light  of  a  hundred  and  fifty  nuisances,  since  he  knew  enough  of  the 
f  )rest  and  the  Alleghanies  to  be  aware  that  they  would  certainly 
delay,  and  possibly  defeat  the  expedition.  Even  the  twenty  horses 
laden  with  subalterns'  stores,  he  viewed  with  no  friendly  eye.  He 
required  no  such  dainties.  On  the  march,  he  besought  the  general 
repeatedly  to  lessen  the  number  of  pack-horses,  and  at  length  he 
prevailed  so  far  as  to  get  the  number  reduced  from  two  hundred 
and  twelve  to  two  hundred :  a  result  which  gave  his  practical  mind 
great  disgust.* 

The  army  marched,  at  length.  Franklin  continued  to  send  pro- 
visions forward  until  news  came  of  the  defeat  and  massacre.  He 
advanced  a  large  sum  of  his  own  money,  nearly  thirteen  hundred 
pounds,  to  facilitate  and  quicken  the  procuring  of  supplies.  By 
mere  good  luck,  as  Franklin  always  thought.  General  Braddock, 
a  few  days  before  the  fatal  day,  sent  him  back  an  order  on  the  pay- 
master for  a  thousand  pounds,  leaving  the  remainder  to  the  next 
account;  but  that  remainder  he  never  received. 

Franklin  was  in  Philadelphia  when  the  terrible  news  came.  Not 
a  soul  in  the  colonies  seems  to  have  seriously  doubted  the  success 
of  the  expedition  ;  such  an  opinion  then  prevailed  of  the  invincible 
prowess  of  British  troops.  Franklin  himself  was  probably  only 
less  confident  than  others.  "  Before  we  had  news,"  he  says,  "  of 
this  defeat,  the  two  Doctors  Bond  came  to  me  with  a  subscription 
paper  for  raising  money  to  defray  the  expense  of  a  grand  firework, 
which  it  was  intended  to  exhibit  at  a  rejoicing  on  receiving  the 
news  of  our  taking  Fort  Duquesne.  I  looked  grave,  and  said,  '  It 
would,  I  thought,  be  time  enough  to  prepare  the  rejoicing  when 
we  knew  we  should  have  occasion  to  rejoice.'  They  seemed  sur- 
prised that  I  did  not  immediately  comply  with  their  proposal. 
'  Why  the  d — 1,'  said  one  of  them,  *  you  surely  don't  suppose  that 
the  fort  will  not  be  taken  !'  'I  don't  know  that  it  will  not  be  taken  ; 
but  I  know  that  the  events  of  war  are  subject  to  great  uncertainty.' 
I  gave  them  the  reasons  of  my  doubting :  the  subscription  was 
dropped,  and  the  projectors  thereby  missed  the  mortification  they 

*  See  Sparks's  Writings  of  Washington,  ii.,  78. 


AGED    49.]  THE    SEVEN    YEAES'    WAR.  355 

would  have  undergone  if  the  firework  had  been  prepared.  Dr. 
Bond,  on  some  other  occasion  afterward,  said  that  he  did  not  like 
Franklin's  forebodings." 

Braddock's  defeat  is  familiar  to  all  readers,  because,  amid  the 
liorrors  of  the  scene,  the  alert  and  youthful  figure  of  Colonel 
Washington  moves  conspicuous.  Of  that  long  romantic  war,  peo- 
ple in  general  have  a  vivid  recollection  of  nothing  except  Wolfe's  he- 
roic clamber  up  the  hights  of  Quebec,  and  the  cool  daring  and  re- 
jected wisdom  of  Braddock's  provincial  aid-de-camp.  Here,  it  con- 
cerns us  only  to  know  that,  during  the  panic,  the  teamsters  of  Brad- 
dock's  army  did  what  teamsters  always  do  in  a  panic,  cut  the  traces, 
mounted  each  his  swiftest  horse,  and  made  all  speed  for  home.  In 
that  summer  of  hurry  and  consternation,  it  was  impossible  to  pro- 
cure the  settlement  of  accounts  so  numerous  and  complicated  as 
those  of  the  owners  of  the  lost  wagons.  Franklin  being  personally 
bound  for  them,  several  of  the  owners  sued  him  for  the  amount  of 
their  loss,  and  he  saw  before  him  a  world  of  trouble,  and  possible 
ruin.  Late  in  October,  however,  more  than  three  months  after  the 
defeat,  commissioners  were  appointed  to  settle  the  claims,  and 
Franklin  was  relieved. 

He  acquired  great  credit  by  his  services  to  Braddock's  army. 
The  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  without  a  dissentient  voice,  gave 
him  a  vote  of  thanks.  When  Thomas  Penn  went  to  the  Secretary 
of  State,  in  London,  to  represent  Franklin  as  a  factious  and  trouble- 
some person,  he  found  that  General  Braddock  had  been  beforehand 
with  him.  "  I  think  with  you,"  wrote  Thomas  Penn,  to  Governor 
Morris,  in  September,  1*755,  "that  Mr.  Franklin's  having  signed 
that  vile  Report  upon  our  answer  to  the  Address  of  the  Assembly, 
and  printed  the  Secretary  of  State's  letter  contrary  to  your  order, 
shows  plainly  he  is  not  to  be  depended  upon  to  assist  in  promoting 
the  public  service,  in  a  way  the  most  agreeable  to  the  Government. 
I  make  no  doubt  he  differs  from  the  Quakers  about  the  Militia  Law, 
but  believe  he  has  no  great  desire  to  lessen  the  power  of  the  As- 
sembly. I  have  mentioned  what  you  say  about  him  to  the  Secre- 
tary of  State,  who  told  me  General  Braddock  had  represented  him 
as  having  done  considerable  services."* 

On  this  occasion,  as  was  usual  with  him,  Franklin  enjoyed  the 

*  Pennsylvania  Archives,  1748-56,  p.  420. 


35G  LIPE   AND   tiMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1755. 

favor  of  his  fellow-citizens  without  overvaluing  that  favor,  or  being 
deceived  by  it.  His  sprightly  and  beautiful  friend,  Catherine  Ray, 
asked  him  in  one  of  her  letters  of  September,  1Y55 :  How  do  you 
do  ?  What  are  you  doing  ?  Does  every  body  still  love  you  ?  And 
how  do  you  make  them  do  so?  He  replied:  "In  regard  to  the 
first  question,  I  can  say,  thanks  to  God,  I  do  not  remember  I  was 
ever  better.  I  still  relish  all  the  pleasures  of  life  that  a  temperate 
man  can  in  reason  desire,  and  through  favor  I  have  them  all  in  my 
power.  This  happy  situation  shall  continue  as  long  as  God  pleases, 
who  knows  what  is  best  for  his  creatures,  and  I  hope  will  enable 
me  to  bear  with  patience  and  dutiful  submission  any  change  he  may 
think  fit  to  make  that  is  less  agreeable.  As  to  the  second  ques- 
tion, I  must  confess  (but  don't  you  be  jealous),  that  many  more 
people  love  me  now  than  ever  did  before ;  for,  since  I  saw  you,  I 
have  been  enabled  to  do  some  general  services  to  the  country  and 
to  the  army,  for  which  both  have  thanked  and  praised  me,  and  say 
they  love  me.  They  say  so,  as  you  used  to  do ;  and  if  I  were  to 
ask  any  favors  of  them,  they  would,  perhaps,  as  readily  refuse  me ; 
so  that  I  find  little  real  advantage  in  being  beloved,  but  it  pleases 
my  humor." 

In  the  same  letter  he  thanks  the  young  lady  for  the  gift  of  a 
cheese  :  "  All  our  friends  have  tasted  it,  and  all  agree  that  it  exceeds 
any  English  cheese  they  ever  tasted.  Mrs.  Franklin  was  very 
proud  that  a  young  lady  should  have  so  much  regard  for  her  old 
husband  as  to  send  him  such  a  present.  We  talk  of  you  every 
time  it  comes  to  table.  She  is  sure  you  are  a  sensible  girl,  and  a 
notable  housewife,  and  talks  of  bequeathing  me  to  you  as  a  legacy ; 
but  I  ought  to  wish  you  a  better,  and  hope  she  will  live  these  hun- 
dred years ;  for  we  are  grown  old  together,  and  if  she  has  any  faults, 
I  am  so  used  to  them  that  I  don't  perceive  them ;  as  the  song  says, 

"  Some  faults  we  have  all,  and  so  has  my  Joan, 
But  then  they're  exceedingly  small ; 
And,  now  I'm  grown  used  to  them,  so  like  my  own, 
I  scarcely  can  see  them  at  aU, 

My  dear  friends, 
I  scarcely  can  see  them  at  all.* 

"  Indeed,  I  begin  to  think  she  has  none,  as  I  think  of  you.     And 

*  A  stanza  of  his  own  song. 


AGED  49.]    GENERAL  FRANKLIN  TAKES  THE  FIELD.  357 

since  she  is  willing  I  should  love  you,  as  much  as  you  are  willing  to 
be  loved  by  me,  let  us  join  in  wishing  the  old  lady  a  long  life  and 
a  happy." 


CHAPTER  m. 

GENERAL  FRANKLIN  TAKES  THE  FIELD. 

And  now  the  fair  province  of  Pennsylvania,  after  eighty  years 
of  peaceful  growth,  fell  upon  evil  days.  Having  enjoyed  the  fruits 
of  Penn's  justice  and  good  sense,  she  was  to  endure  some  of  the 
consequences  of  his  errors  :  dissension  at  the  capital,  fire  and  mas- 
sacre on  the  border. 

As  soon  as  the  tidings  of  Braddock's  defeat  reached  Philadelphia, 
Governor  Morris  sent  in  haste  to  Franklin  and  asked  his  advice. 
Franklin  advised  him  to  write  to  Colonel  Dunbar,  then  command- 
ing the  remnant  of  Braddock's  army,  and  beg  him  to  post  his  troops 
on  the  frontiers,  and  keep  the  enemy  in  check  until  re-enforcements 
could  be  raised  in  the  colonies,  and  then  march  once  more  upon  Fort 
Duquesne.  But  nothing  could  stay  the  flight  of  Dunbar  and  his 
panic-stricken  men,  who  seem  never  to  have  felt  themselves  quite 
safe  until  they  had  reached  Philadelphia. 

Even  at  the  hight  of  the  first  alarm,  the  Assembly  of  Penn- 
sylvania stood  firm  against  the  degrading  demands  of  their  Gov- 
ernor. The  Governor  was  equally  immovable.  "  The  shocking  news 
of  the  strange,  unprecedented,  and  ignominious  defeat  of  General 
Braddock,"  wrote  William  Franklin,  "had  no  more  effect  upon 
Governor  Morris  than  the  miracles  of  Moses  had  on  the  heart  of 
Pharaoh."*  The  Assembly  differed  from  the  Governor,  as  Frank- 
lin observed,  only  upon  one  word,  and  that  a  very  little  one.  The 
Assembly  voted  the  most  liberal  sums,  but  decreed  that  aU  estates, 
real  and  personal,  were  to  be  taxed,  "  those  of  the  proprietaries  not 
excepted."  The  Governor  insisted  on  changing  the  word  not  into 
OTily.    The  Assembly  would  not  consent ;  and,  consequently,  not 

*  Historical  T^cviow.  Sparkr,  iii.,  3GC. 


35S  LIFE   AND   TIMES  OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1755. 

one  of  the  supply  bills  conld  be  passed.  The  news  of  Braddock's 
defeat  reached  Philadelphia  about  the  middle  of  July,  but  the  whole 
summer  passed,  and  two  months  of  the  autumn,  before  any  thing 
effectual  was  done  to  protect  the  border  counties  of  the  province. 

On  the  part  of  the  Assembly  this  ill-timed  dispute  was  conducted 
with  an  ability,  spirit,  temper,  and  resolution,  v^^hich  have  only  once 
been  equaled  in  America.  There  were  adjournments  and  reassem- 
blings ;  there  were  messages,  replies,  rejoinders  and  surrejoinders. 
Franklin's  pen  was  always  busy,  for  he  wrote  nearly  all  the  sharp 
and  dignified  replies  of  the  Assembly.  One  day,  his  son  relates, 
while  the  House  was  discussing  the  great  subject,  "a  pompous 
messacre  was  sent  down  from  the  Governor  containino*  an  offer  on 
the  part  of  the  proprietaries  of  one  thousand  acres  of  land  west  of 
the  Alleghany  mountains,  without  purchase-money,  and  for  fifteen 
years  clear  of  quit-rents,  to  every  colonel  who  should  serve  on  an 
expedition  from  that  or  the  neighboring  provinces  against  the 
French  on  the  Ohio ;  seven  hundred  and  fifty  to  each  lieutenant- 
colonel  and  major ;  five  hundred  to  each  captain ;  four  hundred  to  each 
lieutenant  and  ensign,  and  two  hundred  to  every  common  soldier; 
and  requiring  the  House  to  afford  some  assistance  to  such  as  should 
accept  the  same."*  But  the  House  spurned  the  unworthy  compro- 
mise; ever  bearing  in  mind  Franklin's  favorite  battle-cry  in  this 
long  contest:  "Those  who  would  give  up  essential  liberty  for  the 
sake  of  a  little  temporary  safety,  deserve  neither  liberty  nor  safety." 

On  another  occasion,  the  Assembly  received  a  message  from  a 
number  of  gentlemen  of  the  city,  offering  to  pay  the  amount  of  the 
proprietaries'  tax  for  them,  if  the  Assembly  would  promptly  pass 
the  supply  bills  with  the  exempting  clause.  The  sum  subscribed 
for  this  purpose  was  five  hundred  pounds,  and  it  was  computed  to 
be  sufficient.  This  offer  also  the  Assembly  deemed  it  best  to  decline, 
and  so  the  dispute  raged  on  through  the  summer,  through  Sep- 
tember and  October,  calling  forth  from  Franklin's  eager  pen  hun- 
dreds of  pages  of  composition  that  to  this  day  may  be  read  with 
interest. 

In  July  and  August  the  foe  did  not  threaten  the  settled 
counties  of  Pennsylvania,  and  the  panic  subsided.  It  was  during 
this  ]u\]  in  the  general  alarm  that  Franklin  penned  the  gay  letter  to 
his  yovuig  frie:i']  in  New  England,  from  which  we  have  jtist  quoted 

*  Historical  Eoview,  Sparks,  iii.,  869. 


AGED    49.]  GENERAL    FRANKLIN   TAKES    THE    FIELD.  359 

a  jovial  parngraph  or  two.  But  September  and  October  were 
months  of  terror,  conflagration,  and  blood.  Not  in  the  far  western 
counties  merely,  but  in  Berks,  ISTorthampton,  and  the  country 
around  the  site  of  Hariisburg,  the  present  capital  of  the  State. 
Families  were  scalped  within  eighty  miles  of  Philadelphia.  The 
Moravian  villages  less  than  a  hundred  miles  north  of  the  city  were 
threatened.  Lancaster  and  Easton  were  not  considered  safe,  and 
there  were  timid  persons  wlio  trembled  for  Philadelphia  itself. 
Horrible  tales  of  households  surprised,  of  men  killed,  of  women  and 
children  carried  aw^ay  captive  into  the  wilderness,  were  brought  to 
the  city  by  every  one  that  came  in  from  the  back  country.  On  one 
occasion,  to  rebuke  the  contending  authorities  and  the  non-resisting 
Quakers,  the  bodies  of  a  murdered  family  v/ere  brought  to  Phila- 
delphia, drawn  round  the  city  in  an  open  wagon,  and  then  laid  out 
in  the  street  before  the  State  House,  a  ghastly  argument  for  union 
and  promptitude.  Nay,  it  was  said,  that  Berks  County  was  raising 
an  army  of  two  thousand  men  for  the  purpose  of  marching  to  Phila- 
delphia, and  compelling  the  Governor  and  the  Assembly  to  unite  for 
the  defense  of  the  province.* 

]\Ieanwhile,  Franklin  and  his  friends  ha<l  taken  care  to  make 
known  in  England  the  true  reason  of  their  opposition  to  the  Gover- 
nor ;  and  thus  a  pressure  of  pubhc  opinion  was  brought  to  bear 
upon  the  feeble  understandings  of  the  proprietaries.  A  clamor 
arose  against  them  after  the  defeat  of  Braddock,  and  some  writers 
argued  that  by  obstructing  the  defense  of  the  province  they  had 
forfeited  their  right  to  it.  Alarmed  at  these  insinuations,  they  sent 
out  an  order  to  their  treasurer  to  add  five  thousand  pounds  of  their 
money  to  any  sum  that  might  be  voted  by  the  Assembly  for  the 
purpose  of  defense.  The  Assembly,  upon  receiving  information  of 
this  order,  waived  the  controversy  for  the  time,  voted  the  large 
sum  of  sixty  thousand  pounds,  exempting  (under  protest)  the  estates 
of  the  proprietaries,  and  named  Franklin  one  of  seven  commissioners 
for  expending  it.  This  occurred  in  November,  when  the  Indians 
were  already  ravaging  and  burning. 

But  now  the  long  repressed  energies  of  the  province  awoke. 
Franklin  insisted  on  the  complete  suspension  of  the  old  quarrel.  The 
Governor,  the  Assembly,  the  war  commissioners,  and  all  the  people 
who  were  not  Quakers,  worked  together  in  harmony,  and  with  all 

*  Watson's  "  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  ii.,  165. 


360  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BEI^^JAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l755. 

their  might.  "  The  commissioners,"  wrote  Franklin  to  a  friend, 
'  meet  every  day,  Sundays  not  excepted."  Arms  were  sent  to  the 
frontier.  Stockades  were  built.  Provisions  were  accumulated. 
Men  were  drilled. 

The  grand  obstacle  to  raising  volunteers  had  always  been  the  re- 
fusal of  the  Quakers  to  bear  arms.  The  ruder  provincials  could  not 
endure  the  thought  of  fighting  for  men  who  would  not  fight  for 
themselves ;  for  men,  too,  who  must  necessarily  enjoy  the  fruits  of 
victory.  Franklin,  however,  was  man  enough  to  respect  even  a 
freak,  if  it  were  a  freak  of  conscience,  and  man-of-the-world  enough 
to  know  that  when  an  injustice  canjiot  be  rectified,  it  is  sometimes 
best  to  permit  and  legitimate  it.  He  now  carried  a  bill  through  the 
Assembly  for  raising  volunteers,  the  preamble  of  which  expressly 
and  honorably  exempted  Quakers  from  serving.  To  render  this 
exemption  less  unpalatable  to  the  rest  of  the  people,  he  published, 
according  to  a  custom  of  that  day,  a  Dialogue  between  the  worthy 
citizens,  X,  Y,  and  Z.  This  production  was  long  and  ingenious, 
and  is  said  to  have  had  an  immediate  and  great  effect.  "  For  my 
part,"  says  Z,  "I  am  no  coward,  but  hang  me  if  I  fight  to  save  the 
Quakers."  A  replies :  "  that  is  to  say,  you  will  not  pump  ship, 
because  it  will  save  the  rats  as  well  as  yourself"  "  But,"  continues 
the  still  unsatisfied  Z,  "  if  this  act  should  prove  a  good  one,  v^hat 
shall y^e  have  to  say  against  the  Quakers  at  the  next  election?'^''  To 
this  the  patriotic  X  replies :  '  O,  my  friends,  let  us  on  this  occasion 
cast  from  us  all  these  little  party  views,  and  consider  ourselves  as 
Englishmen  and  Pennsylvanians.  Let  us  think  only  of  the  service 
of  our  king,  the  honor  and  safety  of  our  country,  and  vengeance 
on  its  murdering  enemies.  If  good  be  done,  what  imports  it  by 
whom  it  is  done  ?  The  glory  of  serving  and  saving  others  is  superior 
to  the  advantage  of  being  served  or  secured.  Let  us  resolutely 
and  generously  unite  in  our  country's  cause,  in  which  to  die  is  the 
sw^eetest  of  all  deaths,  and  may  the  God  of  armies  bless  our  honest 
endeavors."  With  this  burst  of  generous  feeling  the  Dialogue 
ends. 

Under  Franklin's  act,  the  provincials  rushed  to  arms,  and  nothing 
was  heard  in  Philadelphia  but  the  sound  of  military  preparation. 
Late  in  November  worse  news  came  from  the  Moravian  county  of 
Northampton,  the  scene  of  the  recent  labors  of  Count  Zinzen- 
dorf.     The  village  of  Guadenhutteu  had  been  burned,  and  the  in- 


AGED    49.]         GENERAL   FBANKLIN   TAKES   THE   FIELD.  361 

habitants  massacred.  The  other  Moravian  villages  were  considered 
to  be  in  extreme  danger,  and  all  the  northwestern  frontier  was 
abandoned  by  the  inhabitants.  In  these  circumstances,  Governor 
Morris  asked  Franklin  to  accept  a  military  commission  and  lead  a 
body  of  men  to  Northampton  County,  erect  a  line  of  stockades,  and 
reassure  the  people.  Franklin  accepted  the  trust.  Five  hundred 
and  forty  volunteers  obeyed  his  call  to  arms.  His  son  William 
he  named  his  aid-de-camp,  and  found  him  most  competent  for  the 
post.  Mrs.  Franklin  prepared  a  plentiful  supply  of  private  stores. 
About  the  middle  of  December,  General  Franklin  (for  General  he 
was  called),  at  the  head  of  part  of  his  little  army,  marched  north- 
ward. 

The  inexperienced  general,  his  troops  not  less  inexperienced, 
marching  in  the  most  difficult  month  of  the  year  through  a  thinly 
settled  country,  had  his  patience  severely  tried.  The  troops  were 
delayed  sometimes  by  lack  of  indispensable  supplies,  often  by  the 
weather,  and  often  by  the  roughness  of  the  roads,  so  that  nearly  a 
month  elapsed  before  they  arrived  at  the  scene  of  their  intended 
operations  ;  the  most  distant  point  of  which  was  not  ninety  miles 
from  the  city.  At  Bethlehem,  the  chief  seat  of  the  Moravians, 
Franklin  found  that  the  Brethren,  though  claiming  to  be  non-resist- 
ants, had  been  induced  by  the  catastrophe  of  Guadenhutten  to 
fortify  their  village.  They  had  even  carried  stones  to  the  garrets 
of  their  houses  for  the  women  to  throw  down  upon  the  Indians. 
Upon  which  Franklin  remarks :  "  Common  sense,  aided  by  present 
danger,  will  sometimes  be  too  strong  for  whimsical  opinions." 

Bethlehem  being  the  base  of  his  operations,  he  sent  out  from  that 
village  several  detachments  for  the  purpose  of  erecting  stockades, 
and  he  remained  there  for  several  days  superintending  these  move- 
ments, and  preparing  to  push  forward  with  the  main  body  to  the 
black  and  corpse-strewn  site  of  Guadenhutten.  His  orders  to  the 
captains  commanding  detachments,  which  were  exact  and  circum- 
stantial, contained  this  clause  :  "  You  are  to  acquaint  the  men,  that 
if  in  their  ranging  they  meet  with,  or  are  at  any  Time  attack'd  by 
the  Enemy,  and  kill  any  of  them.  Forty  Dollars  will  be  allow'd  and 
paid  by  the  Government  for  each  scalp  of  an  Indian  Enemy  so 
killed,  the  same  being  produced  with  proper  Attestations."* 

It  was  no  child's  play,  this  expedition.     Franklin  himself  relates 

*  ••  Pennsylvania  Archives,"  1748-"56,  p.  546. 

16 


862  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKXIN.  [l756. 

an  incident  which  shows  that  tlie  enemy,  though  invisible,  were 
near,  watchful,  and  determined.  "  Just  before  we  left  Bethlehem, 
eleven  farmers,  who  had  been  driven  from  their  plantations  by  the 
Indians,  came  to  me  requesting  a  supply  of  fire-arms,  that  they 
might  go  back  and  bring  off  their  cattle.  I  gave  them  each  a  gun 
with  suitable  ammunition.  We  had  not  marched  many  miles  before 
it  began  to  rain,  and  it  continued  raining  all  day ;  there  were  no 
habitations  on  the  road  to  shelter  us  till  we  arrived  near  night  at 
the  house  of  a  German,  where,  and  in  his  barn,  we  were  all  huddled 
together  as  wet  as  water  could  make  us.  It  was  well  we  were  not 
attacked  in  our  march,  for  our  arms  were  of  the  most  ordinary  sort, 
and  our  men  could  not  keep  the  locks  of  their  guns  dry.  The  In- 
dians are  dexterous  in  contrivances  for  that  purpose,  which  we  had 
not.  They  met  that  day  the  eleven  poor  farmers  above-mentioned, 
and  killed  ten  of  them  ;  the  one  that  escaped  informed  us  that  his 
and  his  companions'  guns  would  not  go  off,  the  priming  being  wet 
with  the  rain." 

The  ai-my  marched  with  the  caution  of  veteran  warriors,  for 
Braddock  had  not  fallen  in  vain.  We  have  still  the  diary  of  one 
of  the  officers  who  served  in  the  expedition,  from  which  we  learn 
the  order  of  the  march  through  the  wilderness  north  of  Bethlehem. 
"  We  are  now,"  he  wrote,  "  in  the  country  of  an  enemy,  against 
whom  all  [)Ossible  caution  is  absolutely  necessary,  and  scarce  suffi- 
cient to  prevent  surprises.  This  day,  before  we  marched,  the  sev- 
eral companies  were  drawn  up  on  a  parade,  and  attended  with 
ordered  firelocks,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  to  an  excellent 
prayer,  and  animating  exhortation,  delivered  by  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Beatty ;  and  immediately  after  began  their  march,  which  was  con- 
ducted by  Mr.  William  Franklin  with  great  order  and  regularity  in 
the  following  manner ;  First  the  scouts  ranged  the  woods  and 
mountains  in  the  front,  in  a  semicircular  line.  Lieutenant  Davis, 
of  McLaughlin's,  led  the  advanced  guard  of  twenty-two  men,  the 
van  followed  at  about  two  hundred  paces  distance,  commanded  by 
Wetherhold  ;  Captain  Wayne  led  the  centre,  where  marched  the 
general,  the  chaplain,  and  all  the  wagons  and  baggage,  which  Cap- 
tain Foulke,  with  forty-seven  men,  followed  ;  and  the  rear-guard 
was  brought  up  by  Ensign  Sterling,  who  had  besides  scouts  out  on 
each  flank,  and  spies  on  every  hill.  In  this  manner  our  line  of 
march  extended  a  full  mile,  and  made  a  pi'etty  appearance  from  the 


AGED    50.]  GENERAL   FEANKLIN   TAKES   THE    FIELD.  363 

hills.  In  the  night  we  were  alarmed  by  two  sentinels  firing  at  two 
Indians,  who  escaped  and  appeared  no  more."* 

The  next  day,  the  march  was  perilous  in  the  extreme.  Another 
eiitry  from  the  same  diary  describes  it:  "Part  of  our  route,  this 
day,  was  through  the  worst  country  I  ever  saw.  Hills,  like  Alps, 
on  each  side,  and  a  long  narrow  defile,  where  the  road  scarcely  ad- 
mitted a  single  wagon.  At  the  bottom  of  it  a  rapid  creek  with 
steep  banks,  and  a  bridge  made  of  a  single  log,  so  situated  that  the 
Indians  might  with  safety  to  themselves,  from  the  caverns  in  the 
rocks,  have  cut  us  all  off,  notwithstanding  all  human  precaution. 
Yet  we  arrived  safe  at  Gnadenhutten  about  twelve  o'clock,  and 
immediately  employed  our  men  in  forming  a  camp  and  raising  a 
breastwork  to  defend  it.  Here  all  round  appears  nothing  but  one 
continued  scene  of  horror  and  destruction.  Where  lately  flour- 
ished a  happy  and  peaceful  village,  it  is  now  all  silent  and  desolate ; 
the  houses  burnt ;  the  inhabitants  butchered  in  the  most  shocking 
manner ;  their  mangled  bodies,  for  want  of  funerals,  exposed  to 
birds  and  beasts  of  prey ;  and  all  kinds  of  mischief  perpetrated  that 
wanton  cruelty  can  invent.  We  have  omitted  nothing  since  our 
arrival  that  can  contribute  to  the  happiness  and  security  of  the 
country  in  general.  Mr.  Franklin  will,  at  least,  deserve  a  statue  for 
his  prudence,  justice,  humanity,  and,  above  all,  for  his  patience." 

Their  first  employment  at  Gnadenhutten,  after  throwing  up  some 
huts  for  the  night,  was  to  bury  the  bodies  of  the  victims  of  the 
massacre.  The  next  morning,  which  was  Monday,  their  stockade 
was  marked  out,  and  work  upon  it  begun.  On  Friday,  though  the 
construction  had  been  often  interrupted  by  the  rain,  the  rough 
log  fort  was  finished,  a  flag  hoisted,  a  salute  fired,  and  the  place 
named  Fort  Allen.  Two  other  forts  were  built  in  the  neighbor- 
hood, and  the  whole  region  was  thus  rendered  secure,  for  the  time, 
against  surprise. 

Franklin  relates  two  or  three  amusing  anecdotes  of  his  stay  at 
Guadenhutten.  The  rainy  days  suggested  the  folloAving :  "  When 
men  are  employed  they  are  best  contented,  for  on  the  days  our  sol- 
diers worked  they  were  good-natured  and  cheerful,  and  with  the 
consciousness  of  having  done  a  good  day's  work,  they  spent  the 
evening  jollily  ;  but  on  our  idle  days  they  were  mutinous  and  quar- 

*  '•  Diary  of  Thomas  Lloyd,"  Sparks,  vii.,  110. 


364  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1756. 

relsome,  finding  fiiult  with  the  pork,  the  bread,  &c.,  and  we  were 
continually  in  bad  humor,  which  put  me  in  mind  of  a  sea-captain, 
whose  rule  it  was  to  keep  his  men  constantly  at  work  ;  and  when 
his  mate  once  told  him  that  they  had  done  every  thing,  and  there 
was  nothing  farther  to  employ  them  about;  'Oh,'  said  he,  'make 
them  scour  the  anchor.'  " 

When  the  fort  was  finished,  the  general  ventured  forth,  accom- 
panied by  small  parties,  to  scour  the  country.  "We  met  with  no 
Indians,"  he  says,  "  but  we  found  the  places  on  the  neighboring 
hills  where  they  had  lain  to  watch  our  proceedings.  There  was  an 
art  in  their  contrivance  of  those  places,  that  seems  worth  mention- 
ing. It  being  winter,  a  fire  was  necessary  for  them ;  but  a  com- 
mon fire  on  the  surface  of  the  ground  would,  by  its  light,  have  dis- 
covered their  position  at  a  distance;  they  had,  therefore,  diig  holes 
in  the  ground,  about  three  feet  in  diameter,  and  somewhat  deeper ; 
we  found  where  they  had,  with  their  hatchets,  cut  off  the  charcoal 
from  the  sides  of  burnt  logs  lying  in  the  woods.  With  these  coals 
they  had  made  small  fires  in  the  bottom  of  the  holes,  and  we  ob- 
served among  the  weeds  and  grass  the  prints  of  their  bodies,  made 
by  their  lying  all  round,  with  their  legs  hanging  down  in  the  holes, 
to  keep  their  feet  wai-m,  which,  with  them,  is  an  essential  point- 
This  kind  of  fire,  so  managed,  could  not  discover  them,  either  by 
its  light,  flame,  sparks,  or  even  smoke." 

Mr.  Beatty,  the  zealous  chaplain  of  the  force,  complained  one 
day  to  General  Franklin,  that  the  men  were  remiss  in  attending 
prayers.  "  Upon  which  I  said  to  Mr.  Beatty,  '  It  is,  perhaps,  be- 
low the  dignity  of  your  profession  to  act  as  steward  of  the  rum  ; 
but  if  you  were  only  to  distribute  it  after  prayers,  you  would 
have  them  all  about  you.'  He  liked  the  thought,  undertook  the 
task,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  few  hands  to  measure  out  the  liquor, 
executed  it  to  satisfaction  ;  and  never  were  prayers  more  generally 
and  more  punctually  attended.  So  that  I  think  this  method  prefer- 
able to  the  punishment  inflicted  by  some  military  laws  for  non-at- 
tendance on  divine  service." 

To  his  wife,  at  home,  who  kept  sending  dainties  to  the  camp  for 
the  solace  of  the  general,  the  chaplain,  and  the  young  aid-de-camp, 
he  wrote  ;  "  We  have  enjoyed  your  roast  beef,  and  this  day  began 
on  the  roast  veal.  All  agree  that  they  are  both  the  best  that  ever 
were  of  the  kind.     Your  citizens,  that  have  their  dinners  hot  and 


AGED    50.]         GENEEAL   FEANKLIIf  TAKES   THE  FIELD.  365 

hot,  know  nothing  of  good  eating.  We  find  it  in  much  greater 
perfection  when  the  kitchen  is  fourscore  miles  from  the  dining- 
room.  The  apples  are  extremely  welcome,  and  do  bravely  to  eat 
after  our  salt  pork  ;  the  minced  pies  are  not  yet  come  to  hand,  but 
I  suppose  we  shall  find  them  among  the  things  expected  up  from 
Bethlehem  on  Tuesday ;  the  capillaire  is  excellent,  but,  none  of  us 
having  taken  cold  as  yet,  we  have  only  tasted  it.  As  to  our  lodg- 
ing, it  is  on  deal  feather-beds,  in  warm  blankets,  and  much  more 
comfortable  than  when  we  lodged  at  our  inn,  the  first  night  after 
we  left  home  ;  for,  the  woman  being  about  to  put  very  damp  sheets 
on  the  bed,  we  desired  her  to  air  them  first ;  half  an  hour  after- 
wards, she  told  us  the  bed  was  ready,  and  the  sheets  well-aired.  I 
got  into  bed,  but  jumped  out  immediately,  finding  them  as  cold  as 
death,  and  partly  frozen.  She  had  aired  them  indeed,  but  it  was 
out  upon  the  hedge." 

While  Franklin  was  still  busy  in  completing  his  three  forts,  and 
supplying  them  with  provisions,  letters  came  from  Governor  Morris, 
informing  him  that  he  was  about  to  summon  the  Assembly,  and 
asking  him  to  return  as  soon  as  the  state  of  the  frontier  would  per- 
mit. His  own  friends  in  the  Assembly,  also,  pressed  him  to  return, 
as  the  old  quarrel  was  about  to  be  renewed.  At  this  time,  a  New 
England  soldier,  of  experience,  one  Colonel  Clapham,  came  to  visit 
the  site  of  Guadenhutten,  and  to  him  General  Franklin  offered  the 
command  of  Fort  Allen.  Colonel  Clapham  accepting,  Franklin 
gave  him  a  commission,  which  he  read  to  the  garrison,  and  having 
addressed  the  troops,  extolling  Colonel  Clapham  and  exhorting 
them  to  vigilance,  he  set  out  for  Philadelphia.  A  party  escorted 
him  to  Bethlehem,  where  he  rested  from  his  unaccustomed  labors 
for  several  days,  and  improved  the  time  by  studying  the  Moravian 
System.  "  The  first  night  at  Bethlehem,"  he  records,  "  lying  in  a 
good  bed,  I  could  hardly  sleep,  it  was  so  different  from  my  hard 
lodging  on  the  floor  of  a  hut,  at  Guadenhutten,  with  only  a  blanket 
or  two." 

He  reached  Philadelphia  about  the  10th  of  February,  1756,  after 
two  months'  service  in  the  field.  He  was  welcomed  home  with 
universal  applause.  The  governor  went  so  far  as  to  urge  him  to 
undertake  the  reduction  of  Fort  Duquesne,  and  offered  to  give  him 
a  general's  commission  for  that  purpose.  This  flattering  offer  he 
declined,  saying  that  he  felt  himself  incompetent  to  the  task.     The 


:366  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   PKANKLIN.  [1^56. 

military  companies  of  Philadelphia,  numbering  twelve  hundred 
men,  immediately  elected  him  their  colonel,  and  he  accepted  the 
honor.  A  grand  parade  of  these  companies,  their  artillery  drawn 
by  "some  of  the  largest  and  most  stately  horses  in  the  province," 
occurred  at  Philadelphia,  a  few  weeks  after  his  return.  It  was  a 
great  day  for  Philadelphia  and  for  Franklin.  "  When  the  regiment 
came  opposite  to  the  colonel's  door"  (on  its  return  from  the  review), 
"  they  were  again  drawn  up  in  battalion,  and  made  one  general  dis- 
charge of  small  arms,  and  several  discharges  of  cannon.  Then 
the  several  companies  marched  off  to  their  respective  places  of  ren- 
dezvous, and  saluted  their  captains,  on  being  dismissed,  with  a  dis- 
charge of  their  fire-arms.  The  whole  was  conducted  with  the  great- 
est order  and  regularity,  and,  notwithstanding  the  vast  concourse 
of  people,  not  the  least  accident  happened  to  any  one.  It  is  allowed, 
on  all  hands,  that  most  of  the  platoon  firings,  the  general  fire  of  the 
regiment,  and  the  discharge  of  the  artillery,  were  nearly  as  well 
performed  as  they  could  be  by  any  troops  whatever.  And  it  is 
likewise  agreed,  that  so  grand  an  appearance  was  never  before  seen 
in  Pennsylvania."* 

Franklin  mentions  in  his  autobiography  that  this  general  dis- 
charge of  small  arms  and  cannon,  broke  several  glasses  of  his  elec- 
trical apparatus.  *'  And  my  new  honor,"  he  adds,  "  proved  not 
much  less  brittle,  for  all  our  commissions  were  soon  after  broken 
by  a  repeal  of  the  law  in  England." 

To  complete  the  military  part  of  Franklin's  history,  it  may  be 
proper  to  add,  that  one  cold  day  in  November,  1756,  nine  months 
after  Franklin  had  left  the  frontier,  while  part  of  the  garrison  of 
Fort  Allen  were  skating  on  the  River  Lehigh,  a  body  of  Indians 
rushed  upon  the  fort,  killed  or  captured  the  inmates,  frightened 
away  the  skaters,  and  burnt  again  the  village,  as  well  as  the  stock- 
ade built  by  Franklin  to  defend  it.f  Several  years,  indeed,  were 
yet  to  elapse  before  the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania  were  safe  from 
the  savage  foe.  But  Franklin  was  called  to  labor  for  the  defense 
of  the  province  in  other  scenes. 

♦  Philadelphia  Gaeette,  March  25th,  1756.  t  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  IL,  206. 


AGED    50.]  THE    OLD   DISPUTE   BEACHES   A   CRISIS.  36^ 

CHAKTER  lY. 

THE  OLD  DISPUTE  REACHES  A  CRISIS. 

The  Assembly  was  again  embroiled  with  the  governor.  Even 
the  five  thousand  po*unds  granted  by  the  proprietaries  proved  to 
be  only  a  new  cause  of  exasperation,  for  it  soon  appeared  that  it 
was  to  be  paid  in  driblets,  as  it  could  be  wrung  from  j^rmers 
whose  quit-rents  were  in  arrears. 

Perhaps  here,  as  conveniently  as  anywhere,  may  be  stated  the 
few  essential  facts  of  this  acrimonious  controversy,  which  occupied 
the  mind  and  pen  of  Franklin  during  the  first  fifteen  years  of  his 
public  life,  and  which  may  be  regarded  as  the  rehearsal  of  the 
grander  drama  of  a  later  day.  I  again  remark  that  it  was  Franklin 
^Y:kQ  chiefly  educated  the  colonies  in  a  knowledge  of  their  rights. 
He  did  this  in  many  ways;  by  his  Junto,  by  his  newspaper,  by 
his  conversation,  by  the  libraries  founded  through  him,  by  the  taste 
for  science  which  he  communicated  ;  but  especially  by  the  ardor  and 
aBility  with  v/hich  he  waged  this  long  warfare  against  arrogant 
Stupidity,  embodied  in  the  degenerate  offspring  of  William  Penn. 

"This  day,"  wrote  William  Penn,  January  5th,  1681,  "my  coun- 
try was  confirmed  to  me  by  the  name  of  Pennsylvania,  a  name  the 
King  (Charles  II.)  would  give  it  in  honor  of  my  father.  I  chose 
New  Wales,  being  as  this  a  pretty  hilly  coimtry.  *  *  I  proposed 
(when  the  Secretary,  a  Welshman,  refused  to  have  it  called  ISTew 
Wales)  Sylvania,  and  they  added  Penn  to  it ;  and  though  I  much 
opposed  it,  and  went  to  the  king  to  have  it  struck  out  and  altered, 
he  said  'twas  past,  and  would  take  it  upon  him:  nor  would 
twenty  guineas  move  the  under-secretaries  to  vary  the  name — for 
I  feared  lest  it  should  be  looked  upon  as  a  vanity  in  me,  and  not  as 
a  respect  in  the  king,  as  it  truly  was  to  my  father,  whom  he  often 
mentions  with  praise." 

In  return  for  this  grant  of  twenty-six  million  acres  of  the  best 
land  in  the  universe,  William  Penn  was  to  deliver,  annually,  at 
Windsor  Castle,  two  beaver  skins,  pay  into  the  king's  treasury 
one-fifth  of  the  gold  and  silver  which  the  province  might  yield, 
govern  the  province  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  England,  and 
as  became  a  liege  of  England's  king.    Penn  was  the  captain-o^eneral 


368  LIFE   AND  TIMES   OF  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1756. 

of  the  province,  with  power  to  treat  with  savage  tribes  and  make 
war  upon  them.  He  was  to  appoint  judges  and  magistrates ;  could 
pardon  all  crimes,  except  murder  and  treason;  and  whatsoever 
things  he  could  lawfully  do  himself,  he  could  empower  a  deputy  to 
do — he  and  his  heirs  for  ever.  But  he  could  lay  no  impost,  no 
customs,  no  tax,  nor  enact  a  law,  without  the  consent  of  the  free- 
men of  the  province  in  Assembly  represented.  Of  the  land  he 
was  absolute  proprietor ;  nor  would  he  dispose  of  any  of  it  abso- 
lutely. He  sold  great  tracts  at  forty  shillings  per  hundred  acres, 
all  subject  to  an  annual  quit-rent  of  one  shilling  per  hundred  acres. 
He  also  reserved  manors,  city  lots,  and  various  portions  of  territo- 
ry ;  either  holding  them  against  a  rise  in  value,  or  letting  them  to 
tenants.  Thus  was  founded  an  estate,  which,  in  1755,  was  estima- 
ted to  be  worth  ten  millions  sterling,  and  which  then  produced  a 
clear  annual  revenue  of  thirty  thousand  pounds — magnified  in 
popular  belief  to  one  hundred  thousand. 

William  Penn,  twice  married,  left  six  children.  The  province 
of  Pennsylvania  he  bequeathed  to  the  three  sons  of  his  second 
marriage,  John,  Thomas,  and  Richard,  giving  to  the  eldest  a 
double  portion.  John,  who  thus  became  the  proprietor  of  one- 
half  of  the  province,  died  in  1746,  and  left  his  whole  estate  to  his 
brother  Thomas,  In  Franklin's  day,  therefore,  the  proprietaries 
were  two  in  number,  Thomas  Penn,  who  owned  three-fourths  of 
the  province,  and  Richard  Penn,  who  owned  one-fourth.  Thomas 
Penn  was  a  man  of  business,  careful,  saving,  and  methodical. 
Richard  Penn  was  a  spendthrift.  Both  were  men  of  slender 
abilities,  and  not  of  very  estimable  character.  They  had  done 
some  liberal  acts  for  the  province,  such  as  sending  over  presents  to 
the  library  of  books  and  a])paratus,  and  cannon  for  the  defense  of 
Philadelphia.  If  the  Pennsylvanians  had  been  more  submissive, 
they  would  doubtless  have  continued  their  benefactions.  But,  un- 
happily, they  cherished  those  erroneous,  those  tory  notions  of 
the  rights  of  sovereignty  which  Lord  Bute  infused  into  the  con- 
tracted mind  of  George  III.,  and  whicli  cost  that  dull  and  ob- 
stinate monarch,  first,  his  colonies,  and  then  his  senses.  It  is  also 
rooted  in  the  British  mind,  that  a  land-owner  is  entitled  to  the 
particular  respect  of  his  species.  These  Penns,  in  addition  to  the 
pride  of  possessing  acres  by  the  million,  felt  themselves  to  be  the 
lords  of  the  land  they  owned,  and  of  the  people  who  dwelt  upon 


AGED    50.]  THE    OLD    DISPUTE   BEACHES   A   CRISIS. 


369 


it.  And,  it  must  be  confessed,  they  were  long  upheld  in  this  be- 
lief by  the  Pennsylvanians  themselves.  When  one  of  the  proprie- 
taries deigned  to  visit  the  province,  he  received  addresses,  as  a 
king  might  from  his  subjects,  and  replied  to  them  with  a  brevity 
more  than  royal.  Franklin,  once,  in  bis  leather-apron  days,  wrote 
an  eloquent  address,  asking  one  of  the  Penns  to  take  the  infant 
library  under  his  distinguished  patronage.  Franklin's  address 
fills  three-quarters  of  a  colimin  in  the  Gazette.  The  high  and 
mighty  Penn  replied  in  three  lines  and  a  half.  That  was  the  way 
of  the  world  then,  and  Thomas  and  Richard  Penn  were  of  a  caliber 
to  be  as  completely  taken  in  by  it  as  George  III.  was.  The  tone 
and  style  of  all  their  later  communications  to  the  Pennsylvanians 
were  those  of  offended  lords  to  contumacious  vassals.  And  yet, 
at  home,  as  William  Franklin  wrathfully  records,  they  were  so 
insignificant  as  "  hardly  to  be  found  in  the  herd  of  gentry :  not  in 
court,  not  in  ofiice,  not  in  parliaments" 

These  gentlemen  ruled  their  province  by  a  deputy  governor, 
an  official  whose  life,  as  we  have  already  seen,  was  not  a  happy 
one.  If  among  the  millions  who  have  tried  to  serve  two  masters, 
not  one  has  succeeded,  how  hopeless  the  case  of  a  governor  who 
was  required  to  serve  three,  namely,  the  proprietaries  who  could 
take  away  his  office,  the  Assembly  who  could  withhold  his  salary, 
and  the  king  of  England  who  could  cut  off  his  head.  This  was  the 
real  difficulty.  The  poor  governor  was  so  trammeled  by  instructions, 
that  he  could  only  comply  with  the  demands  of  the  Assembly  by 
forfeiting  his  place,  and  he  could  only  obey  his  instructions  by 
risking  his  salary;  while,  occasionally,  would  come  over  the  ex- 
press commands  of  the  king,  requiring  him  to  do  something  which 
he  could  only  do  by  mortally  offending  one  of  his  other  masters. 
The  instructions  of  the  proprietaries  were  minute  and  stringent, 
covering  all  topics  liable  to  create  controversy.  The  governor's 
hands  were  so  ignominiously  tied,  that  he  was  ashamed  to  exhibit 
his  instructions,  and,  consequently,  for  many  years,  the  Assembly 
could  seldom  be  sure  whether  it  was  the  folly  of  the  proprietaries 
or  the  obstinacy  of  their  deputy  that  was  the  real  obstacle  to  the 
harmonious  government  of  the  province.  Once,  indeed,  a  governor, 
on  returning  a  bill  to  the  House,  frankly  wrote:  "You  will  be 
pleased  to  observe  how  I  am  circumstanced,  and  that  I  cannot  re- 
cede from  my  instructions  without  risking  both  my  honor  and 
16* 


370  LIFE    AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [l756. 

fortune,  which,  I  am  persuaded,  you,  gentlemen,  are  too  equitable 
to  desire." 

Franklin,  in  one  of  his  numberless  essays  on  this  inexhaustible 
subject,  gives  an  amusing  example  of  what  he  calls  "  the  commerce" 
between  the  Governor  and  the  Assembly.  Sundry  bills  having 
been  long  in  the  hands  of  the  Governor  awaiting  his  signature,  the 
House  appointed  a  committee  to  jog  his  excellency's  memory.  The 
Governor  replied,  that  he  had  had  the  bills  under  consideration, 
and  "  waited  the  result  in  the  House."  These  enigmatic  words 
were  understood  by  the  Assembly,  who  immediately  resolved  to 
take  the  matter  of  the  Governor' s  support  into  consideration.  Some 
progress  was  made  toward  the  passage  of  the  bill  for  his  supply. 
Still,  no  money  was  voted.  The  next  morning  the  Governor  sent 
a  message  to  the  House,  informing  them  that,  "  as  he  had  received 
assurances  of  a  good  disposition"  on  their  part,  he  was  willing  to 
sign  the  bills  without  amendment.  But  the  bills  were  not  signed. 
A  few  days  after,  the  House  resolved  that,  on  the  pjassage  of  the 
bills  then  before  the  Governor,  orders  on  the  Treasurer  for  fifteen 
hundred  pounds  be  presented  to  his  excellency,  for  his  support 
during  the  year.  "The  orders,"  says  Franklin,  "  were  accordingly 
drawn ;  with  which  being  acquainted,  he  appointed  a  time  to  pass 
the  bills ;  which  was  done  with  one  hand,  while  he  received  the 
orders  in  the  other ;  and  then,  with  the  utmost  politeness  he  thanked 
the  House  for  the  fifteen  hundred  pounds,  as  if  it  had  been  a  pure 
free  gift,  and  a  mere  mark  of  their  respect  and  affection.  *  I  thank 
you,  gentlemen,'  says  he,  '  for  this  instance  of  your  regard^  which 
I  am  the  more  pleased  with,  as  it  gives  an  agreeable  prospect 
oi  future  harmony  between  me  and  the  representatives  of  the 
people.'  "* 

This  occurred  in  peaceful  times,  and  the  story  was  told  as  a  mere 
State-house  joke.  "It  is  a  happy  country,"  remarks  Franklin  in 
commenting  upon  it,  "  where  justice,  and  what  was  your  own  be- 
fore, can  be  had  for  ready  money.  It  is  another  addition  to  the 
value  of  money,  and  of  course  another  spur  to  industry.  Every 
land  is  not  so  blessed.  There  are  countries  where  the  princely  pro- 
prietor claims  to  be  lord  of  all  property,  where  what  is  your  own  shall 
not  only  be  wrested  from  you,  but  the  money  you  give  to  have  it 

*  Sparks,  iv.,  103. 


AGED    50.1  THE    OLD   DISPUTE   REACHES   A   CEISIS.  3Vl 


restored  shall  be  kept  with  it ;  and  your  offei-ing  so  much,  being  a 
sign  of  your  being  too  rich,  you  shall  be  plundered  of  every  thing 
that  remained.  These  times  are  not  come  here  yet ;  our  present 
proprietors  liava  never  been  more  unreasonable  hitherto  than  bare- 
ly to  insist  on  your  lighting  in  defense  of  their  property,  and  paying 
the  expense  yourselves." 

To  that  complexion  the  controversy,  as  the  reader  knows,  had 
come  at  last.  This  it  was  that  swallowed  up  all  the  other  causes 
of  difference  between  the  proprietaries  and  the  people.  Yet  it  was 
an  affair  of  only  five  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  a  year,  that  being 
about  the  sum  which  the  Penn  estate  would  have  paid  if  it  had  been 
taxed  at  the  rate  laid  upon  all  other  estates.  But  the  imposition 
of  this  trifling  sum,  all  of  which  was  to  be  expended  in  the  defense 
of  what  the  proprietaries  had  the  ill  taste  to  style,  "  our  province 
of  Pennsylvania,"  and  "  our  city  of  Philadelphia,"  they  resisted 
with  a  blind  obstinacy  that  was  only  surpassed  by  the  enlightened 
firmness  of  the  Assembly  in  insisting  upon  it.  During  these  first 
years  of  the  French  war,  from  1754  to  the  end  of  1758,  the  ravaged 
colony  of  Pennsylvania  contributed  to  the  king's  service,  in  defend- 
ing its  own  borders  and  aiding  other  colonies  to  strike  at  the  com- 
mon foe,  the  sum  of  two  hundred  and  eighteen  thousand  pounds 
sterling.  Still,  the  proprietaries  would  not  be  taxed.  The  crown 
lands  and  castles,  the  lodges  and  palaces,  of  the  king  of  England, 
contributed  their  proper  proportion  to  the  revenue  of  the  king- 
dom. But  the  proprietary  estate  of  these  lordly  brothers  must 
still  be  exempt  from  taxation. 

The  reader  may  be  curious  to  know  what  reasons  the  Messrs. 
Penn  condescended  to  give  for  refusing  compliance  with  a  demand 
so  obviously  just. 

To  a  most  respectful  and  reasonable  remonstrance  of  the  Assem- 
bly, they  returned,  in  1753,  an  elaborate  reply  in  sixteen  sections, 
which  contain  the  whole  of  the  argument  on  their  side.  This  docu- 
ment may  be  summed  up  in  little  more  than  sixteen  sentences, 
without  omitting  one  of  its  ideas  :  1.  The  true  interest  of  Pennsyl- 
Tania  is  the  chief  object  of  our  concern.  2.  You,  members  of  the 
Assembly,  are  base  men  who  are  trying  to  deceive  the  weakei- 
portion  of  your  constituents  by  affecting  an  extraordinary  zeal  for 
their  interests.  3.  We  have  already  made  known  our  will  in  this 
matter  through  our  governor.     That  ought  to  have  silenced  and 


372  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [l756. 

contented  you.  ISTevertheless,  since  you  are  bent  upon  a  factious 
agitation,  take  a  final  answer  from  our  own  pen.  4.  Know,  then, 
that  the  Lords  of  Trade  have  assured  us  that  we  are  no  more  bound 
to  pay  taxes  "than  any  other  chief  governor  of  the  king's  colo- 
nies." 5.  Besides,  it  is  chiefly  at  our  charge  that  the  Indian  lands 
are  bought.  6.  We  say  again,  that  your  agitation  of  this  matter 
is  a  new  trick  to  secure  your  re-elections.  7.  We  advise  you  to 
show  us  the  respect  due  to  the  rank  which  the  crown  has  been 
pleased  to  bestow  upon  us  in  Pennsylvania.  Yie  shall  get  on  much 
better  if  you  attend  to  this  hint.  8.  The  people  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  ordinary  times,  are  so  lightly  taxed  that  they  hardly  know  they 
are  taxed.  9.  What  fools  you  are  to  be  agitating  this  dangerous 
topic  of  American  taxation.  "  Several  proposals  have  been  made 
for  laying  taxes  on  North  America,  and  it  is  most  easy  to  foresee, 
that  the  self-same  act  of  Parliament  that  shall  lay  them  on  our 
will  also  lay  them  on  your  estates,  and  on  those  of  your  constitu- 
ents." 10.  It  is  beneath  the  dignity  of  the  Assembly  to  make 
trouble  about  such  small  sums  of  money.  11.  As  to  our  monopoly 
of  the  Indian  lands,  respecting  which  the  Assembly  indulges  in 
unbecoming  sneers,  we  remind  you  that  this  monopoly  was  granted 
to  us  by  royal  charter,  and  is,  therefore,  none  of  the  Assembly's 
business.  12.  We  do  not  deny  that  you  have  been  at  some  expense 
in  pacifying  the  Indians,  but  that  is  no  affair  of  ours.  13.  We 
already  give  the  province  a  larger  sum  per  annum  than  our  share 
of  the  taxes  would  amount  to.  One  of  us,  for  example,  sent  over 
four  hundred  pounds'  worth  of  cannon,  a  short  time  ago,  "for  the 
defense  of  our  city  of  Philadelphia."  14.  As  for  the  burdens  of  the 
people,  for  whom  you  pretend  to  feel  so  much  concern,  you  can  cut 
down  the  present  excise  one-half,  and  still  have  revenue  enough  for 
years  of  peace.  15.  We  should  get  along  perfectly  well  with  our 
province  but  for  certain  "  men  of  warm  or  uneasy  sjDirits,"  who 
manage  to  get  themselves  elected  to  the  legislature  by  affecting  a 
great  zeal  for  the  public  welfare.  1 6.  This  is  our  answer.  "  And 
we  desire,  in  any  matter  of  the  like  nature,  that  the  House  will  be 
satisfied  with  such  an  answer  as  the  governor  may  have  orders  to 
give  on  our  behalf." 

Each  section  of  this  false  and  insolent  communication,  Franklin 
refuted  with  great  spirit.  When  he  came  to  notice  the  sentence 
just  quoted,  in  which  the  proprietaries  decline  in  advance  to  receive 


AGED    50.]  THE   OLD   DISPUTE   BEACHES   A   CRISIS.  373 

any  future  remonstrance,  his  usually  tranquil  mind  took  fire,  and 
he  poured  forth  a  few  burning  sentences,  which  contain  the  essence 
of  the  argument  on  the  popular  side  : 

"  No  king  of  England,  as  we  can  remember,  has  ever  taken  on 
himself  such  state,  as  to  refuse  personal  applications  from  the  mean- 
est of  his  subjects,  where  the  redress  of  a  grievance  could  not  be 
obtained  of  his  officers.  Even  sultans,  sophis,  and  other  eastern 
absolute  manarchs,  will,  it  is  said,  sometimes  sit  whole  days  to  hear 
the  complaints  and  petitions  of  their  very  slaves ;  and  are  the  pro- 
prietaries of  Pennsylvania  become  too  great  to  be  addressed  by 
the  representatives  of  the  freemen  of  their  province  ?  If  they  must 
not  be  reasoned  with,  because  they  have  given  instructions,  nor 
their  deputy,  because  he  has  received  them,  our  meetings  and  de- 
liberations are  henceforth  useless ;  we  have  only  to  know  their 
will,  and  to  obey.  To  conclude,  if  this  province  must  be  at  more 
than  two  thousand  pounds  a  year  expense  to  support  a  proprietary's 
deputy,  who  shall  not  be  at  liberty  to  use  his  own  judgment  in 
passing  laws,  but  the  assent  must  be  obtained  from  chief  governors, 
at  three  thousand  miles'  distance,  often  ignorant  or  misinformed  in 
our  affairs,  and  who  will  not  be  applied  to  or  reasoned  with  when 
they  have  given  instructions,  we  cannot  but  esteem  those  colonies 
that  are  under  the  immediate  care  of  the  crown,  in  a  much  more 
ehgible  situation ;  and  our  sincere  regard  for  the  memory  of  our 
first  proprietary  must  make  us  apprehend  for  his  children,  that,  if 
they  follow  the  advice  of  Rehoboam's  counselors,  they  will,  like 
him,  absolutely  lose,  at  least,  the  affections  of  their  people.  A  loss, 
which,  however  they  may  affect  to  despise  it,  will  bs  found  of  more 
consequence  to  them  than  they  seem  at  present  to  be  aware  of." 

It  must  be  further  stated,  that  there  were  not  wanting  respect- 
able and  influential  persons  in  the  province  who,  siding  witli  the 
proprietaries,  justified  their  most  arrogant  claims.  These  were  the 
magistrates,  judges,  collectors,  and  other  official  persons,  who  held 
their  places  at  the  pleasure  of  the  proprietaries.  There  were,  also, 
expectants  of  office  who  displayed  particular  zeal  in  promoting  the 
governor's  measures.  There  were  in  Pennsylvania,  too,  as  every- 
where else  in  the  world,  a  considerable  number  of  persons  whose 
constitution  of  mind  inclined  them  to  the  side  of  power;  men  born 
to  believe  that  the  uppermost  man  is  the  man  most  in  the  right. 
These  people  formed  "  the  Society"  of  the  province,  and  wielded, 


374  LIFE    AXD  TIMES    OF   BEXJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [I'/SB. 

in  aid  of  the  governor,  that  most  powerful  influence  of  the  last  cen- 
tury, the  spell  of  the  Exclusive  Dmwing-Room — that  subtle,  un- 
named delusion  which  caused  truly  noble  persons  to  side  with 
Charles  L,  and  in  1861  led  some  not  altogether  depraved  women 
to  affect  a  sympathy  with  the  atrocious  men  who  fomented  the 
treason  of  the  slave-masters.  But  against  the  claims  of  the  pro- 
prietaries were  gradually  arrayed  all  that  made  the  strength  and 
greatness  of  Pennsylvania,  its  best  minds,  its  most  active  hands, 
the  bone  and  sinew,  the  intelligence  and  thrift  of  the  province ;  the 
class  of  thinkers  and  workers,  whose  representative  and  champion 
was  Benjamin  Franklin. 

We  can  now  proceed  to  relate  the  events  which  brought  the 
good  people  of  Pennsylvania  to  the  conclusion  that  their  proprie- 
taries were  impracticable  blockheads,  and  that  nothing  remained 
for  them  but  an  appeal  to  the  king. 

From  Guadenhutten,  as  we  have  already  related,  Franklin  re- 
turned home  in  February,  1756,  to  attend  the  Assembly;  his  pres- 
ence being  equally  desired  by  the  governor  and  by  the  House.  At 
the  last  session  he  had  been  all  for  harmony  and  co-operation,  and 
both  parties  again  looked  to  him  for  aid  or  advice. 

I  omit  details.  Let  it  suffice  to  say,  that  the  session  passed  in 
one  continuous  jangle.  The  old  dispute  w^as  revived,  and  new  dis- 
putes arose.  Do  what  they  would,  the  Assembly  could  not  please 
the  governor,  nor  fi'ame  a  bill  that  he  would  sign.  At  length  Gov- 
ernor Morris  was  induced  to  show  part  of  his  instructions ;  whence 
it  plainly  appeared  that  no  other  course  had  been  open  to  him  than 
the  one  he  had  so  consistently  pursued.  There  was  the  usual  rapid 
fire  of  addresses  and  replies,  which  had  no  effect,  and  could  have 
hone,  except  to  exasperate.  The  Assembly  adjourned  without 
having  attained  any  of  its  objects.  The  governor,  lover  as  he  was 
of  disputation,  was  tired  at  last  of  this  monotony  of  wrangle,  sent 
to  England  his  resignation,  and  held  his  place  only  till  a  successor 
should  arrive. 

In  March  Franklin  left  his  home  again  for  a  post-office  tour  in 
Maryland  and  Virginia.  An  incident  of  his  departure  gave  ex- 
treme offense  to  Thomas  Penn.  As  he  was  still  the  colonel  of  the 
Philadelphia  volunteers,  and  in  the  fresh  enjoyment  of  his  military 
fame,  his  officers,  as  he  records,  "  took  it  into  their  heads,"  to  es- 
cort him  a  few  miles  out  of  the  city.     "  Just  as  I  was  getting  on 


AGED   50.]  THE    OLD  DISPUTE    REACHES   A   CRISIS.  375 

liorseback  they  came  to  my  door,  between  thirty  and  forty, 
mounted,  and  all  in  their  uniforms.  I  had  not  been  previously  ac- 
quainted with  their  project,  or  I  should  have  prevented  it,  being 
naturally  averse  to  the  assuming  of  state  on  any  occasion ;  and  I 
was  a  good  deal  chagrined  at  their  appearance,  as  I  could  not 
avoid  their  accompanying  me.  What  made  it  worse  was,  that,  as 
soon  as  we  began  to  move,  they  drew  their  swords  and  rode  with 
them  naked  all  the  way.  Somebody  wrote  an  account  of  this  to 
the  Proprietor,  and  it  gave  him  great  offense.  'No  such  honor  had 
been  paid  to  him,  when  in  the  province ;  nor  to  any  of  his  gov- 
ernors ;  and  he  said,  it  was  only  proper  to  princes  of  the  blood 
royal ;  which  may  be  true  for  aught  I  know,  who  was,  and  still 
am,  ignorant  of  the  etiquette  in  such  cases.  This  silly  affair,  how- 
ever, greatly  increased  his  rancor  against  me,  which  was  before 
considerable  on  account  of  my  conduct  in  the  Assembly." 

Mr.  Penn  complained  again  to  the  Secretary  of  State,  and  even 
besought  the  postmaster-general  to  remove  from  office  so  factious 
and  troublesome  a  man.  His  complaints  produced  no  effect  except 
to  induce  the  postmaster-general  to  send  to  his  American  deputy  a 
letter  of  gentle  reproof. 

This  journey  lasted  three  months.  He  spent  two  months  very 
agreeably  in  Virginia,  and  then  went  round  by  sea  to  New  York. 
Virginia,  he  wrote,  was  "  a  pleasant  country,  and  the  people  polite 
and  obliging,"  Of  New  York  he  only  records,  that  it  "  was  grow- 
ing immensely  rich  by  money  brought  into  it  from  all  quarters  for 
the  pay  and  subsistence  of  the  troops."  Little  was  thought  of  then 
in  the  colonies  but  the  war.  Troops  were  crossing  the  ocean,  and 
colonial  regiments  were  everywhere  forming  to  co-operate  with 
them.  Lord  Loudoun,  recently  named  commander-in-chief  for 
America,  was  daily  expected  to  arrive  at  New  York.  Colonel 
Washington,  commanding  the  forces  of  Virginia,  was  again  in  the 
field.  He  wrote  occasionally  to  Franklin  on  business  of  the  post- 
office.  From  one  of  Franklin's  replies  we  learn  that  the  Indians 
were  once  more  ravaging  the  frontiers  of  Pennsylvania. 

Returning  home  about  the  first  of  July,  Franklin  found  every  one 
anxious  for  the  safety  of  the  province,  but,  the  new  governor  not 
having  arrived,  nothing  could  be  done.  Six  weeks  after,  he  wrote : 
"  Our  frontiers  are  greatly  distressed.  *  *  *  rpjjg  Assembly  are 
met,  and  in  a  very  good  disposition  towards  the  service ;  but  the 


876  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1766. 

new  governor  being  hourly  expected,  nothing  can  be  done  till  his 
arrival."  The  governor  had  landed,  however,  and  reached  Philadel- 
phia a  few  hours  after  these  words  were  written.  On  the  nine- 
teenth of  August,  1756,  Mr.  Robert  Morris '  ceased  to  be  governor 
of  Pennsylvania,  and  Captain  William  Denny  ruled  in  his  stead. 

Most  joyful  was  his  welcome  to  the  city.  "  Change  of  devils, 
according  to  the  Scotch  proverb,  is  blithesome,"  wrote  William 
Franklin,  in  recording  the  arrival  of  Captain  Denny.  "The  whole 
province,"  he  continued,  "seemed  to  feel  itself  relieved  by  the 
alteration  of  one  name  for  another.  Hope,  the  universal  cozener, 
persuaded  them  to  believe,  that  the  good  qualities  of  the  man  would 
qualify  the  governor.  He  was  received  like  a  deliverer.  The  offi- 
cious proprietary  mayor  and  corporation  made  a  feast  for  his 
entertainment ;  and,  having  invited  the  Assembly  to  partake  of  it, 
they  also  were  pleased  to  become  forgetful  enough  to  be  of  the 
party."* 

At  this  banquet,  after  the  removal  of  the  cloth,  Governor  Denny 
rose  and  presented  to  Franklin,  with  a  complimentary  speech,  the 
medal  voted  him  by  the  Royal  Society,  to  which  allusion  has  be- 
fore been  made  in  these  pages.  While  the  company  were  mak- 
ing merry  over  their  wine.  Governor  Denny  took  Franklin  aside 
into  an  adjoining  room,  and  endeavored  by  flattery  and  promises  to 
win  him  over  to  the  views  of  the  proprietaries.  "  He  said  much  to 
me,"  reports  Franklin,  "  of  the  proprietor's  good  disposition  towards 
the  province,  and  of  the  advantage  it  would  be  to  us  all,  and  to  me 
in  particular,  if  the  opposition  that  had  been  so  long  continued  to 
his  measures  was  dropped,  and  harmony  restored  between  him  and 
the  people,  in  eftecting  which  it  wa.s  thought  no  one  could  be  more 
serviceable  than  myself;  and  I  might  depend  on  adequate  acknowl- 
edgments and  recompenses.  The  drinkers,  finding  we  did  not 
return  immediately  to  the  table,  sent  us  a  decanter  of  Madeira, 
which  the  governor  made  liberal  use  of,  and,  in  proportion,  became 
more  profuse  of  his  solicitations  and  promises." 

Franklin  replied,  that  his  circumstances,  thank  God,  were  such 
as  to  render  the  favors  of  the  proprietor  unnecessary  to  him,  and, 
being  a  member  of  the  Assembly,  he  could  not  lawfully  accept 
any  thing  the  proprietor  had  to  bestow.     He  bore  no  ill  will  to  Mr. 

♦  "Historical  Eeview,"  Sparks,  lil.,  506. 


AGED    50.]  THE    OLD   DISPUTE   REACHES   A    CRISIS.  377 

Penn,  and  had  opposed  his  measures  only  when  he  had  thought 
them  unjust.  He  would  do  every  thing  in  his  power  to  render  the 
administration  of  Governor  Denny  easy  and  agreeable  ;  but,  at  the 
same  time,  he  hoped  "  he  had  not  brought  the  same  unfortunate 
instructions  his  predecessors  had  been  hampered  with."  To  this 
observation  the  new  governor  made  no  reply.  His  silence,  how- 
ever, on  a  point  so  important,  did  not  alarm  the  Assembly,  for  they 
unanimously  voted  him  a  welcoming  address,  and  a  grant  of  six 
hundred  pounds  towards  his  support.  They  were  tired  of  opposi- 
tion, says  William  Franklin,  and  were  pleased  to  find  some  3)re- 
tense  for  relenting. 

Brief  indeed  was  this  lull  in  the  storm.  The  very  first  communi- 
cation of  Governor  Denny  to  the  House  betrayed  to  the  experienced 
members  that  he  was  but  "  a  governor  in  shackles,"  as  Governor 
Morris  had  been  before  him.  He  was  induced,  ere  long,  to  exhibit 
some  articles  of  his  instructions ;  and  it  then  appeared,  that  on  the 
three  vital  subjects  of  the  excise,  the  emission  of  paper  money,  and 
the  taxation  of  the  proprietary  estates,  he  had  been  so  explicitly  in- 
structed, that  the  sessions  of  the  Assembly  could  have  no  other 
effect  than  to  assist  in  the  execution  of  proprietary  decrees.  One 
slight  concession  the  proprietaries  condescended  to  make,  and,  in 
doing  so,  they  conceded  the  principle  for  which  the  Assembly  had 
so  long  contended.  They  permitted  the  governor  to  consent  to 
the  taxing  of  that  small  portion  of  the  Penn  estate  which  was 
productive  of  more  than  quit-rent;  or,  in  their  own  language,  "any 
of  our  manors  or  lands  which  are  actually  let  out  on  leases,  either 
for  lives  or  years,  as  being  estates  in  some  degree  like  to  those  of 
which  the  inhabitants  are  possessed."  The  tens  of  thousands  of  acres 
that  paid  quit-rent  only,  and  the  millions  of  acres  that  were  unoccu- 
pied, were  still  to  be  exempt  from  that  taxation  upon  which  their 
value  as  property  depended. 

Four  months  of  strife  and  bitterness  followed  the  arrival  of  Gov- 
ernor Denny.  The  Assembly  and  the  governor  could  agree  upon 
nothing.  If  the  Assembly  adjourned,  they  met  only  to  renew  the 
struggle.  Franklin,  still  the  spokesman  of  the  popular  party,  was 
one  of  the  few  men  in  the  House  who  remained  in  good  humor,  and 
on  good  terms  with  the  hapless  governor.  All  Franklin's  wrath 
and  contempt  were  expended  upon  the  grasping  and  mischievous 
men  whom  a  freak  of  fortune  had  invested  with  power  to  insult 


378  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OP  BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.  [l756. 

and  injure  the  country  that  he  loved.  The  only  acrimony  to  be 
found  in  all  the  multifarious  writings  of  this  best-tempered  of  men, 
is  an  occasional  passage  wrung  from  him  by  the  arrogance  of 
Thomas  and  Richard  Penn.  He  seems  even  to  have  disliked  the 
father  for  the  unworthiness  of  the  sons. 

The  autumn  of  1756  was  a  busy  one  for  Franklin.  That  the  affairs 
of  the  public  did  not  quite  absorb  his  mind,  we  perceive  from  one 
of  his  letters  from  London  of  this  time,  acknowledging  the  receipt 
of  twenty  guineas,  which  he  had  sent  as  a  gift  to  the  Xondon  So- 
ciety for  the  Encouragement  of  Arts,  Manufactures,  and  Commerce. 
The  Society  elected  him  a  corresponding  member,  and  "  earnestly 
desired  his  correspondence,  information,  and  advice."  In  Novem- 
ber we  find  him  again  on  the  frontier,  accompanying  Governor 
Denny  to  a  conference  with  the  Indians,  and  listening,  day  after 
day,  to  tedious  and  fruitless  Talks.  Governor  Denny  was  a  man 
of  the  world,  a  scholar,  and  a  gentleman,  one  who  would  have  ac- 
quitted himself  well  in  his  office  but  for  the  interference  of  his  em- 
ployers. Acquainted  as  he  was  with  the  literary  gossip  of  London, 
his  conversation  was  amusing  to  the  provincial  Franklin  as  they 
rode  side  by  side  to  the  conference.  He  told  Franklin,  among  other 
things,  that  his  old  comrade,  James  Ralph,  was  alive  and  fiourish- 
ing,  and  in  great  repute  as  a  pohtical  writer.  He  had  been  em- 
ployed in  royal  disputes,  had  started  a  newspaper,  the  Protestor, 
to  help  the  Duke  of  Bedford  against  the  Duke  of  Newcastle ;  and 
finding  the  paper  would  not  be  permitted  to  continue,  had  honor- 
ably returned  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds 
of  the  two  hundred  advanced  by  that  personage.  Nay,  he  was  al- 
lied to  the  potentates  of  the  earth  by  being  afflicted  with  that  pa- 
trician disease,  the  gout.* 

From  the  Indian  conference  Franklin  wrote  a  letter  of  comic  re- 
proof to  his  wife  for  not  sending  him  a  letter  by  a  certain  messen- 
ger. "  I  had  a  good  mind  not  to  write  to  you  by  this  opportunity ; 
but  I  never  can  be  ill-natured  enough  even  when  there  is  the  most 
occasion.  I  think  I  won't  tell  you  that  we  are  well,  nor  that  we 
expect  to  return  about  the  middle  of  the  week,  nor  will  I  send  you 
a  word  of  ne\7s ;  that's  poz.  My  duty  to  mother,  love  to  the  chil- 
dren, and  to  Miss  Betsey  and  Gracy.    I  am  your  loving  husband. 

♦  Correspondence  of  John,  Fourth  Duke  of  Bedford,  ii.  127, 135, 186. 


AGED   50.]  THE    OLD   DISPUTE    REACHES   A    CRISIS.  379 

''P.  S.  I  have  scratched  out  the  loving  words,  being  writ  in  haste 
by  mistake,  when  I  forgot  I  loas  angry.'''' 

On  reaching  home,  he  found  there  his  erratic  nephew,  Ben. 
Mecom,  who  had  just  arrived  from  Antigua,  and  was  resolved  to 
set  up  in  Boston.  The  young  gentleman  having  honorably  repaid 
his  uncle  what  he  had  formerly  advanced,  Franklin  again  lent  him  a 
little  capital  in  money,  and  a  great  capital  in  credit  upon  booksellers 
in  London,  to  the  great  joy  and  thankfulness  of  the  lad's  mother. 

It  was  at  the  regular  December  session  of  the  Assembly,  1756, 
that  the  dispute  with  the  governor  reached  a  crisis,  the  patience  of 
the  Assembly,  long  tried,  being  at  last  exhausted.  The  treasury 
was  empty.  The  frontiers  were  ill-protected.  The  enemy  was 
more  audacious  than  ever.  Never  had  there  been  such  need  of 
united  and  energetic  effort.  The  patriotic  Assembly,  feeling  for  the 
sore  distress  of  the  outlying  settlements,  and  longing  to  do  their 
part  for  king  and  country,  resolved  to  raise  money  by  an  excise 
upon  wine,  beer,  and  spirituous  liquors,  and  thus  avoid  the  taxing  of 
the  Penn  estate.  Accordingly  they  sent  up  to  the  governor  an  act, 
entitled,  "  An  act  for  striking  the  sum  of  sixty  thousand  pounds  in 
bills  of  credit,  and  giving  the  same  to  the  king's  use,  and  for  pro- 
viding a  fund  to  sink  the  bills  so  to  be  emitted,  by  laying  an  excise 
upon  wine,  rum,  brandy,  and  other  spirits."  The  excise  was  to 
continue  twenty  years. 

This  bill  the  Assembly  had  reason  to  suppose  unobjectionable, 
since  its  passage  involved  no  principle  heretofore  contested.  The 
governor,  however,  refused  his  assent.  His  mstructio7is,  he  said, 
forbade  his  passing  such  a  bill.  The  amount  of  money  was  too 
great ;  the  term  of  twenty  years  was  too  long ;  and  various  minor 
details  of  the  bill  were  not  what  they  should  be.  There  were  con- 
ferences between  the  governor  and  a  committee  of  the  House,  but 
all  attempts  at  accommodation  were  frustrated  by  the  inexorable  in- 
structions. If  the  committee  demonstrated  the  absolute  necessity  of 
a  clause  of  the  bill,  the  governor  could  only  reply  that  his  instruc- 
tions expressly  and  positively  forbade  it.  At  length  the  bill  was 
returned  to  the  House,  with  a  message  of  ten  Unes,  in  which  the 
governor  declared  that  "  he  would  not  give  his  consent  to  it,  and 
there  being  no  person  to  jndge  between  the  governor  and  the  IIouso 
in  these  parts,  he  would  immediately  transmit  to  his  Majesty  his 
reasons  for  so  doing." 


380  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [lY56. 

At  the  receipt  of  this  haughty  and  peremptory  message,  the  As- 
sembly seemed  to  have  been  stunned.  The  remainder  of  the  day, 
William  Franklin  records,  was  wasted  in  vain  discussion  of  the 
difficulties  they  were  involved  in  ;  for  the  House  broke  up  without 
coming  to  any  resolution.  The  next  was  a  blank  likewise  ;  no  busi- 
ness was  done ;  but,  on  the  third,  having  resumed  the  consideration 
of  the  governor's  objections  to  the  bill,  they  passed  a  series  of  reso- 
lutions, solenmly  protesting  against  the  veto,  but  concluding  with 
this :  "  The  House,  therefore,  reserving  their  rights  in  their  full  ex- 
tent on  all  future  occasions,  and  protesting  against  the  proprietary 
instructions  and  prohibitions,  do,  nevertheless,  in  duty  to  the  king 
and  compassion  for  the  suffering  inhabitants  of  their  distressed 
country,  and  in  humble  but  full  confidence  of  the  justice  of  his  Ma- 
jesty and  a  British  Parliament,  waive  their  rights  on  this  present 
occasion  only;  and  do  further  resolve,  that  a  new  bill  be  brought  in 
for  granting  a  sum  of  money  to  the  king's  use,  and  that  the  same 
be  made  conformable  to  the  said  instructions." 

As  soon  as  this  urgent  business  had  been  disposed  of,  the  House 
resolved  to  follow  the  example  of  the  Governor,  and  appeal  to  the 
king.  "  It  was  highly  necessary,"  ran  the  resolution,  "  that  a  remon- 
strance should  be  drawn  up  and  sent  home,  setting  forth  the  true 
state  of  Pennsylvania,  and  representing  the  pernicious  consequences 
to  the  British  interest,  and  to  the  inhabitants  of  that  province,  if, 
contrary  to  their  charters  and  laws,  they  were  to  be  governed  by 
proprietary  instructions."  But  this  was  not  all.  The  Assembly 
further  resolved,  that  the  two  most  honored  members  of  their  House, 
the  Speaker,  Isaac  Norris,  a  gentleman  who  had  grown  gray  in  the 
service  of  the  province,  and  Benjamin  Franklin,  should  be  requested 
to  go  to  England,  commissioned  by  the  Assembly  to  urge  and 
procure  the  redress  of  their  grievances. 

The  gentlemen  named  were  called  upon  to  inform  the  House 
whether  they  would  accept  the  trust.  Mr.  Norris,  pleading  his  age' 
and  ill-health,  asked  to  decline.  Then  Franklin  rose,  and  said  "  that 
he  esteemed  the  nomination  by  the  House  to  that  service  as  a  high 
honor,  but  that  he  thought,  if  the  Speaker  could  be  prevailed  on  to 
undertake  it,  his  long  experience  in  public  affairs,  and  great  know- 
ledge and  abilities,  would  render  the  addition  of  another  unnecessary; 
that  he  held  himself,  however,  in  the  disposition  of  the  House,  and 
was  ready  to  go  Avhenever  they  should  think  fit  to   require   his 


AGED    50.]  TO   ENGLAND.  881 

service."  The  speaker  remaining  firm  in  his  refusal,  the  House 
resolved,  that  "  Benjamin  Franklin  be,  and  he  is  hereby  appointed 
agent  of  this  province,  to  solicit  and  transact  the  afiliirs  thereof  in 
Great  Britain  ;"  and,  a  few  days  after,  "that  William  Franklin  have 
leave  to  resign  his  oiEce  of  clerk  of  this  House,  that  he  may  accom- 
pany his  father,  appointed  one  of  the  commissioners  to  negotiate 
our  affairs  in  England,  and  that  another  person  be  chosen  to  serve 
as  clerk  during  the  absence  of  the  said  Franklin." 

To  defray  the  expenses  of  the  voyage,  and  of  a  residence  in 
London,  the  Assembly  voted  the  sum  of  fifteen  hundred  pounds. 
As  the  commissioner  expected  to  finish  the  business  in  a  few 
months  this  provision  he  considered  sufficient. 


CHAPTER  V. 

TO    ENGLAND. 


It  was  seldom  an  easy  matter  in  the  olden  times  to  get  across  the 
Atlantic  when  France  and  England  were  at  war.  Our  commissioner 
and  his  son,  besides  the  ordinary  difficulties,  encountered  some  that 
were  unexpected  and  unusual.  One  obstacle  presented  itself  more 
obstructing  to  any  useful  progress  than  sand-bars  and  sunken  rocks, 
more  perilous  than  pirates  and  enemy's  men-of-war,  namely,  a 
tenth-rate  man  in  a  first-rate  place.  Franklin  was  five  months  in 
getting  from  Philadelphia  to  London. 

His  preparations  for  the  voyage  were  soon  completed.  Passage 
was  engaged  for  father  and  son  in  a  New  York  packet  ship,  and  their 
stores  were  embarked.  A  few  days  before  the  time  fixed  for  their 
departure,  Lord  Loudoun  arrived  at  Philadelphia,  having  come  from 
New  York,  as  he  said,  for  the  purpose  of  attempting  an  accommoda- 
tion between  tlie  Governor  and  the  Assembly,  in  order  that  the 
king's  service  might  be  no  longer  obstructed  by  their  dissensions. 
Hoping  much  from  the  interposition  of  this  important  personage, 
Franklin  deferred  his  departure,  and  the  packet  sailed  without  him. 


382  LIFE    AK^D   TIMES    OF    BEXJAMIN   FPwANKLIN,  [iVoT. 

This  Lord  Loudoun  was  the  obstructing  man  to  whom  allusion  has 
just  been  made.  His  appointment  to  a  post  so  difficult  and  so  re- 
sponsible as  that  of  commander-in-chief  of  the  king's  forces  in  Amer- 
ica, was  doubtless  owing,  as  most  appointments  then  were,  to  some 
ministerial  necessity  of  the  moment.  "  On  the  whole,"  wrote 
Franklin  afterwards,  "  I  wondered  much  how  such  a  man  came  to 
be  intrusted  with  so  irapoj-tant  a  business  as  the  conduct  of  a  great 
army :  but  having  since  seen  more  of  the  great  world,  and  the 
means  of  obtaining,  and  motives  for  giving  places  and  employments, 
my  wonder  is  diminished."  What  a  force  of  satire  in  that  quiet 
passage. 

Lord  Loudoun,  being  ready  to  begin  his  mediation,  requested 
Governor  Denny  and  Mr.  Benjamin  Franklin  to  meet  him,  saying 
that  he  wished  to  hear  what  could  be  advanced  on  both  sides.  The 
meeting  occurred,  and  the  subject  was  discussed.  Franklin,  on  the 
part  of  the  Assembly,  gave  his  lordship  the  substance  of  the  argu- 
ments with  which  in  so  many  a  striking  paper  he  had  plied  the 
Governors  and  their  masters.  Governor  Denny,  on  his  part,  could 
only  do  what  he  had  always  done  when  hard  pressed,  plead  his  in- 
structions and  his  bond,  proving  by  them  that  to  yield  to  the  As- 
sembly was  certain  ruin  to  himself  Nevertheless,  he  intimated  a 
willingness  to  hazard  the  consequences  of  compliance,  if  he  could  be 
permitted  to  urge  in  his  defense  that  Lord  Loudoun  had  advised 
it.  The  irresolute  mind  of  his  lordship  was  perplexed  ;  for  Frank- 
lin's reasoning  was  as  difficult  to  set  aside  as  Governor  Denny's 
bond.  "  Once,"  says  Franklin,  "I  thought  I  had  nearly  prevailed 
with  him,  but  finally,  he  rather  chose  to  urge  the  compliance  of  the 
Assembly ;  and  he  entreated  me  to  use  my  endeavors  with  them 
for  that  purpose." 

In  view  of  the  extreme  urgency  of  the  occasion,  and  the  hope  of 
speedy  redress  from  the  crown,  Franklin  advised  the  Assembly  to 
yield  once  more,  and  adapt  their  legislation  to  the  proprietary  in- 
structions.  They  did  so,  under  protest,  and  Lord  Loudoun  received 
the  credit  of  having  restored  harmony  between  the  Governor  and 
his  unmanageable  parliament.  He  thanked  Franklin  for  the  assist- 
ance he  had  rendered  him,  and  soon  returned  to  New  York,  whither 
the  commissioner  and  his  son  prepared  to  follow  him. 

The  leave-taking,  indeed,  was  somewhat  abrupt.  There  were 
two  packet  ships  at  New  York  ready  to  sail,  and  waiting  only  for 


AGED    51.]  TO    ENGLAND.  383 

Lord  Loudoun  to  give  the  word.  Franklin  asked  him  to  name  the 
precise  time  of  the  departure  of  the  first  packet,  so  that  he  might 
be  in  no  danger  of  missing  it.  The  reply  was:  "I  have  given  out 
that  she  is  to  sail  on  Saturday  next ;  but  I  may  let  you  know,  entre 
nous,  that  if  you  are  there  by  Monday  morning  you  will  be  in  time, 
but  do  not  delay  longer  I" 

Father  and  son  set  out  on  the  fourth  of  April.  Franklin  bade 
farewell  to  a  home  in  which  he  had  been  happy  for  twenty-six  years. 
His  family  then  consisted  of  his  wife,  his  wife's  aged  motlier,  his 
daughter,  one  or  two  nieces,  and  an  old  nurse  of  the  family  (fre- 
quently mentioned  in  Franklin's  letters  by  the  name  of  "  Goody," 
or  "  Goody  Smith.")  His  wife  was  a  comely,  prudent,  cheerful  dame, 
to  whom  he  willingly  confided  all  his  aifairs  during  his  absence. 
His  daughter  Sarah  was  a  beautiful  child  of  twelve  years,  most 
tenderly  beloved  by  her  parents.  She  was  evidently  much  in  her 
father's  thoughts  as  he  rode  away  across  the  province  of  ISTew 
Jersey.  From  Trenton  he  wrote  back  to  his  wife :  "  About  a  dozen 
of  our  friends  accompanied  us  quite  hither,  to  see  us  out  of  the 
province,  and  we  spent  a  very  agreeable  evening  together.  I  leave 
home  and  undertake  this  long  voyage  the  more  cheerfully,  as  I  can 
rely  on  your  prudence  in  the  management  of  my  affairs  and  the  edu- 
cation of  our  dear  child ;  and  yet  I  cannot  forbear  once  more  re- 
commending her  to  you  with  a  father's  tenderest  concern." 

There  was  some  hindrance  at  one  of  the  ferries  on  the  road,  which 
])revented  their  arrival  at  Newark  until  Monday  noon,  and  Frank- 
hn  was  alarmed  lest  the  ship  had  sailed  without  him.  On  reaching 
the  Hudson,  however,  he  was  relieved  to  hear  that  she  was  still 
lying  at  anchor,  and  would  sail  the  next  day. 

Such,  indeed,  was  the  captain's  desire  and  purpose.  But  he 
could  not  sail  without  the  permission  of  the  commander-in-chief, 
and  it  was  eleven  weeks  before  that  permission  could  be  obtained. 
Lord  Loudoun  was  a  marvel  of  dilatoriness  and  procrastination. 
Never  were  great  interests  so  trifled  with  as  by  him.  Some  of  the 
instances  given  by  Franklin  of  his  indecision  and  indolence,  are  al- 
most beyond  belief  During  this  delay  of  eleven  weeks,  his  dis- 
patches, for  which  the  packet  waited,  were  always  to  be  ready  to- 
morrow, A  third  packet  arrived  at  length,  and  soon  after  all  three 
vessels  were  ready  to  sail,  and  had  passengers  engaged  for  England. 
Still  the  to-morrow  of  the  general  would  not  dawn,  and  the  packets 


384  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1757. 

lay  at  anchor  in  the  harbor.  "  Going  myself  one  morning,"  says 
Franklin,  "  to  pay  my  respects,  I  found  in  his  antechamber  one 
Innis,  a  messenger  of  Philadelphia,  who  had  come  thence  express, 
with  a  packet  from  Governor  Denny  for  the  general.  He  delivered 
to  me  some  letters  from  my  friends  there,  which  occasioned  my  in- 
quiring when  he  was  to  return,  and  w^here  he  lodged,  that  I  might 
send  some  letters  by  him.  He  told  me  he  was  ordered  to  call  to- 
moriow  at  nine  for  the  general's  answer  to  the  governor,  and 
should  set  off  immediately ;  I  put  my  letters  into  his  hands  the 
same  day.  A  fortnight  after  I  met  him  again  in  the  same  place. 
*  So  you  are  soon  returned,  Innis !'  '  Returned  ;  no,  I  am  not 
gone  yet.'  '  How  so  ?'  *  I  have  called  here  this  and  every  morn- 
ing these  two  weeks  past  for  his  lordship's  letters,  and  they  are 
not  yet  ready.'  '  Is  it  possible,  when  he  is  so  great  a  writer  ?  for  I 
see  him  constantly  at  his  escritoir.'  'Yes,'  said  Innis,  'but  he  is 
like  St.  George  on  the  signs ;  always  on  horseback,  but  never 
rides  on.' " 

Another  example  is  related  by  Franklin  :  "  Captain  Bound,  who 
commanded  one  of  those  packets,  told  me,  that,  when  he  had  been 
detained  a  month,  he  acquainted  his  lordship  that  his  ship  was 
grown  foul,  to  a  degree  that  must  necessarily  hinder  her  fast  sail- 
ing, a  point  of  consequence  for  a  packet-boat,  and  requested  an  al- 
lowance of  time  to  heave  her  down  and  clean  her  bottom.  His 
lordship  asked  how  long  time  that  would  require.  He  answered, 
three  days.  The  general  replied, 'If  you  can  do  it  in  one  day,  I 
give  leave  ;  otherwise  not ;  for  you  must  certainly  sail  the  day  after 
to-morrow.'  So  he  never  obtained  leave,  though  detained  after- 
wards from  day  to  day  during  full  three  months." 

It  was  incompetency  such  as  this,  contrasted  with  the  vigor  and 
direct  sense  of  their  own  Shirleys,  Washingtons  and  Franklins, 
that  first  gave  the  colonies  a  certain  confidence  in  themselves,  a  cer- 
tain distrust  of  the  wisdom  and  invincibility  of  Englishmen.  The 
only  object  Lord  Loudoun  appears  to  have  had  in  detaining  the 
packets,  was  to  send  home,  all  at  once,  a  striking  quantity  of  intel- 
ligence.* 

During  this  long  delay,  Franklin  was  as  near  being  miserable  as 
a  man  so  formed  for  happiness  could  be.     His  only  employments 

*  Grenville  Papers,  L,  2  )2. 


AGED    51.]  TO   ENGLAND.  385 

were  to  dance  attendance  upon  Lord  Loudoun,  and  correspond 
with  his  friends.  He  endeavored  to  induce  his  dilatory  lord- 
ship to  make  due  compensation  to  the  Pennsylvania  farmers  for 
the  enlistment  of  their  bound-servants ;  but  after  many  long  con- 
versations with  him  upon  the  subject,  he  gave  up  the  attempt  as 
hopeless.  He  also  tried,  but  tried  in  vain,  to  procure  the  settle- 
ment of  his  account  for  provisions  furnished  to  Gen.  Braddock's 
army.  The  general-in-chief  treated  him  with  the  utmost  politeness, 
often  inviting  him  to  dinner,  and  sometimes  asking  his  advice ;  but 
upon  no  matter  of  business  could  he  ever  induce  him  to  do  any 
thing  but  put  it  off. 

Among  the  many  pleasing  letters  written  by  Franklin  at  this 
time,  there  is  one  to  Mrs.  Jane  Mecom,  that  is  most  tenderly  con- 
siderate and  wise.  It  related  to  their  sister,  Mrs.  Dowse,  who  was 
very  old,  poor,  and  infirm,  but  yet  could  not  be  persuaded  to  give 
up  her  house,  and  live  with  her  relatives.  It  seems,  also,  that  she 
clung  to  a  few  articles  of  finery,  relics  of  her  happy  days.  Franklin, 
having  been  consulted  upon  these  points,  wrote  thus  to  his  sister 
Jane : 

"  As  having  their  own  way  is  one  of  the  greatest  comforts  of  life 
to  old  people,  I  think  their  friends  should  endeavor  to  accommodate 
them  in  that  as  well  as  any  thing  else.  When  they  have  long  lived 
in  a  house,  it  becomes  natural  to  them  ;  they  are  almost  as  closely 
connected  with  it  as  the  tortoise  with  his  shell :  they  die  if  you 
tear  them  out  of  it.  Old  folks  and  old  trees,  if  you  remove  them, 
'tis  ten  to  one  that  you  kill  them,  so  let  our  good  old  sister  be  no 
more  importuned  on  that  head  :  we  ar-e  growing  old  fast  ourselves, 
and  shall  expect  the  same  kind  of  indulgences ;  if  we  give  them,  we 
shall  have  a  right  to  receive  them  in  our  turn.  And  as  to  her  few 
fine  things,  I  think  she  is  in  the  right  not  to  sell  them,  and  for  the 
reason  she  gives,  they  will  fetch  but  little,  and  when  that  little  is 
spent,  they  would  be  of  no  further  use  to  her ;  but  perhaps  the 
expectation  of  possessing  them  at  her  death  may  make  that  person 
tender  and  careful  of  her,  and  helpful  to  her  to  the  amount  of  ten 
times  their  value.  If  so,  they  are  put  to  the  best  use  they  possibly 
can  be.  I  hope  you  visit  sister  as  often  as  your  affairs  will  permit, 
and  afford  her  what  assistance  and  comfort  you  can  in  her  present 
situation.  Old  age,  infirmities,  and  poverty  joined,  are  afflictions 
enough.  The  neglect  and  slights  of  friends  and  near  relations  should 
17 


386  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [lV57. 

never  be  added  ;  people  in  her  circumstances  are  apt  to  suspect  this 
sometimes  without  cause :  appearances  should  therefore  be  attend- 
ed to  in  our  conduct  toward  them  as  well  as  relatives.  I  write  by 
this  post  to  cousin  William,  to  continue  his  care,  which  I  doubt  not 
he  will  do." 

At  the  same  time,  he  was  in  the  fondest  accord  with  youth  and 
beauty.  His  farewell  letter  to  Miss  Ray  closes  with  a  compliment 
worthy  of  Sir  Roger  de  Coverly  or  Colonel  JSTewcome  :  "  Present 
my  best  compliments  to  all  that  love  me.  I  should  have  said  all 
that  love  you,  but  that  would  be  giving  you  too  much  trouble." 
Nor  was  he  less  interested  in  his  young  nephew,  Peter  Mecom,  who 
was  just  setting  up  as  a  soap-maker ;  nor  in  *'  Johnny  Mecom,"  re- 
cently apprenticed  to  a  silver-smith ;  nor  in  Ben.  Mecom,  who  was 
about  to  marry  and  open  a  bookseller's  shop.  He  sends  the  best 
advice  to  all  of  these  young  men ;  and  tells  Peter  that  Mrs.  Frank- 
lin will  sell  soap  for  him  in  Philadelphia  if  he  made  it  of  good 
quality.  "  Let  a  box  be  sent  to  her  (but  not  unless  it  be  right 
good),  and  she  will  immediately  return  the  ready  money  for  it." 
Fancy  any  recent  ambassador  from  Pennsylvania  getting  his  wife  to 
sell  soap  among  her  fine  friends  in  the  city,  to  help  along  a  nephew 
recently  established  in  the  soap-boiling  business  at  Lancaster. 

Ben.  Mecom,  it  appears,  wished  his  uncle  to  appoint  him  post- 
master of  Boston  ;  an  ofiice  tl^n  held  by  another  relation  of  the 
postmaster-general,  with  whom  the  Mecoms  were  at  variance. 
Franklin  replied  to  Mrs.  Mecom :  "  If  a  vacancy  should  happen, 
it  is  very  probable  he  may  be /hought  of  to  supply  it ;  but  it  is  a 
rule  with  me  not  to  remoap  any  officer  that  behaves  well,  keeps 
regular  accounts,  and  pays^Uti^ ;  and  I  think  the  rule  is  founded 
on  reason  and  justice.  *  *.^If  my  friends  require  of  me 
to  gratify  not  only  their  inclinations,  but  their  resentments,  they 
expect  too  much  of  me." 

The  packet-ship,  at  length,  dropped  down  to  the  lower  bay, 
where  a  great  fleet  was  assembled,  designed  for  the  reduction  of 
Louisburg.  Franklin  and  his  fellow  passengers  went  on  board,  ex- 
pecting, as  before,  to  sail  "  to-morrow,"  and  there  they  remained 
for  six  weeks  longer,  consuming  their  provisions,  and  longing  for  a 
morrow  that  would  not  come.  For  the  third  time,  our  weary  com- 
missioner and  his  son  had  to  lay  in  a  supply  of  sea-stores. 

As  all  things  have  an  end,  so,  at  last.  Lord  Loudoun  gave  the 


AGED   51.]  TO   ENGLAND.  387 

signal  for  sailing,  and  the  whole  fleet  of  ninety-nine  vessels,  includ- 
ing the  three  London  packets,  weighed  anchor,  and  stood  out  to 
sea.  Was  the  commissioner  off?  By  no  means.  His  packet  was 
ordered  to  attend  the  fleet  until  his  lordship's  dispatches  were 
ready  !  "  We  were  out  five  days,"  says  Franklin,  "  before  we  got 
a  letter  with  leave  to  part ;  and  then  our  ship  quitted  the  fleet  and 
steered  for  England.  The  other  two  packets  he  still  detained,  car- 
ried them  with  him  to  Halifax,  where  he  stayed  some  time  to  exercise 
the  men  in  sham  attacks  upon  sham  forts,  then  altered  his  mind  as 
to  besieging  Louisburg,  and  returned  to  New  York,  with  all  his 
troops,  together  with  the  packets  above  mentioned,  and  all  their 
passengers !" 

Having  escaped  the  dominion  of  Lord  Loudoun,  the  little 
packet  spread  her  sails  and  sped  merrily  enough  across  the  Atlantic. 
That  the  packet  was  little,  we  may  infer  from  an  incident  of  the 
voyage.  The  captain  having  boasted  of  the  swiftness  of  his  ship, 
was  mortified  to  find,  on  putting  to  sea,  that  she  lagged  behind  the 
whole  fleet.  Conjecturing  the  cause,  he  ordered  all  hands  aft,  and 
immediately  the  ship  mended  her  pace.  Passengers  and  crew  num- 
bered forty  persons,  about  three  tons  avoirdupois;  a  weight  that 
would  not  perceptibly  affect  the  sailing  of  packet-ships  of  modern 
magnitude.  The  captain  shifted  the  water-casks  farther  aft,  and 
the  ship  then  regained  her  character,  distanced  the  many  privateers 
that  chased  her,  and  reached  soundings  in  thirty  days.  The  inci- 
dent suggested  to  Franklin  (who  could  contemplate  nothing  without 
wishing  to  improve  it)  the  idea  of  a  series  of  experiments  to  deter- 
mine the  best  form  of  hull,  the  proper  position  of  masts,  the  form 
and  size  of  sails,  and  the  right  disposition  of  the  freight. 

Off  Falmouth  harbor,  to  which  they  were  bound,  the  packet  had 
the  narrowest  escape  from  destruction.  It  was  midnight,  and  the 
ship  was  running  swiftly  in  toward  the  land,  to  avoid,  under  cover 
of  darkness,  the  enemy's  cruisers,  which  then  hovered  in  great 
numbers  near  important  harbors.  The  captain  had  turned  in,  and 
most  of  the  passengers  and  crew  were  also  in  their  berths.  The 
lookout  man  was  constantly  li ailed  by  the  mate  in  the  usual  man- 
ner, and  he,  as  often,  answered,  "Ay,  ay,  sir."  Too  often,  it 
seems :  for,  at  last,  he  answered  mechanically,  when  half  asleep. 
A  light-house,  built  upon  some  rocks,  stood  right  in  the  vessel's 
course,  but  the  sleepy  sailor  saw  it  not  till  the  ship  was  rushing 


388  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l75V. 

full  upon  it.  An  accidental  heave  of  the  vessel  disclosed  the  flam- 
ing light  to  the  helmsman,  to  the  sailors  on  deck,  and  to  wakeful 
passengers  below.  Franklin  saw  the  light.  ''It  seemed  to  me," 
he  says,  "  as  large  as  a  cart-wheel."  A  captain  of  the  royal  navy, 
who  was  a  passenger  on  board,  sprang  to  the  deck,  and  ordered 
the  sailors  to  wear  ship,  an  operation  that  risked  the  snapping  of 
the  masts,  but  was  the  only  chance  of  saving  the  vessel.  The  masts 
bore  the  tremendous  strain,  and  the  ship  escaped.  All  this,  as  the 
novelists  say,  was  the  work  of  a  moment,  a  thrilling  moment, 
which  impressed  Franklin  the  more  forcibly,  as  there  was  not  then, 
on  the  coast  of  America,  a  single  light-house.  The  event,  he  says, 
made  him  resolve  to  encourage  the  building  of  light-houses  in 
America,  if  he  should  live  to  return. 

An  anxious  night  was  succeeded  by  a  gloomy  dawn.  An  im- 
penetrable fog  hung  over  land  and  sea.  They  knew  not  precisely 
where  they  were.  About  nine  o'clock  the  fog  began  to  move,  and 
was  lifted  slowly  and  entire,  like  the  curtain  of  a  theater,  disclosing 
beneath  the  harbor  of  Falmouth,  with  its  fleet  of  vessels  at  anchor, 
the  town  and  its  castles,  and  the  lovely  fields  of  Cornwall  lying 
around  and  behind  it.  The  vessel  glided  in,  and  the  passengers 
went  joyfully  on  shore.  "The  bell  ringing  for  church,"  wrote 
Franklin  to  his  wife,  "we  went  thither  immediately,  and,  with 
hearts  full  of  gratitude,  returned  sincere  thanks  to  God  for  the 
mercies  we  had  received.  Were  I  a  Roman  Catholic,  perhaps  I 
should  on  this  occasion  vow  to  build  a  chapel  to  some  saint ;  but  as 
I  am  not,  if  I  were  to  vow  at  all,  it  should  be  to  build  a  light- 
house^'' 


CHAPTER  VI. 

IN  ENGLAND   AGAIN. 


Father  and  son  posted  to  London,  two  hundred  and  fifty  miles 
distant.  It  was  a  ride  of  many  days  :  Macadam  being  then  but  a 
toddling  infant  on  the  banks  of  Ayr.*     They  stopped  only  at  Salis 

*  "  A  broad- wheeled  wagon,  attended  by  two  men,  and  drawn  by  eight  horses,  in  about  six  week« 
lime  carries  and  brings  back  between  London  and  Edinburgh,  near  four  ton  weight  of  goods." 
Adam.  SmiiiCs  W^iWi  qf  Naiiom,  book  i.,  chapter  iii.,  published  in  1775. 


AGED  51.]  IN  ENGLAND  AGAIN.  389 

bury,  to  view  the  cathedral,  to  visit  Stonehenge,  to  go  over  "Wilton 
Hall,  the  magnificent  seat  of  the  Earl  of  Pembroke,  to  inspect  the 
monastic  ruins  in  the  village  of  Wilton,  and,  perhaps,  to  visit  the 
inn-yard  where  King  Richard's  Duke  of  Buckingham  was  beheaded, 
and  enter  the  little  church  where  his  dust  reposes.  A  glorious  ride 
it  must  have  been  to  both  the  Americans,  through  beautiful  Devon- 
shire, over  Hampshire  Downs,  and  along  the  enchanting  southern 
coast,  in  the  fine  days  of  July.  In  all  the  realm  of  Britain  there 
was  not  a  fonder  lover  of  his  country  than  Franklhi,  nor  one 
prouder  of  her  greatness.  He  saw  England  then  in  her  loveliest 
attire,  and  enjoyed  her  beauty  with  a  doubled  zest,  because  he  saw 
it  with  his  son's  eyes  as  well  as  his  own.  On  the  last  day  of  their 
journey,  they  accomplished  the  extraordinary  distance  of  seventy 
miles,  arriving  in  London  late  in  the  evening  of  July  26th. 

The  elegant  abode  of  Peter  CoUinson,  one  of  the  most  agreeable 
and  best  frequented  houses  in  Europe,  received  the  tired  travelers. 
There  they  remained  for  several  days,  receiving  the  visits  of  elec- 
tricians and  other  members  of  the  Royal  Society,  who  hastened  to 
offer  their  congratulations  to  the  American  philosopher.  James 
Ralph  soon  presented  himself,  heard  tidings  of  his  abandoned  rela- 
tives in  Philadelphia,  and  related  to  his  old  friend  the  long  story 
of  his  own  adventures.  Dr.  Fothergill  called  to  welcome  to  Eng- 
land the  man  whom  he  had  made  known  to  Europe.  Gov.  Shirley, 
of  Massachusetts,  renewed  his  friendship  with  Franklin.  Mr.  Stra- 
han,  the  great  bookseller,  Johnson's  friend,  for  many  years  Frank- 
lin's correspondent,  called  at  Mr.  Collinson's,  and  seems  to  have 
fallen  in  love  with  Franklin  at  first  sight.  Congratulatory  letters 
from  electricians  of  France,  Germany,  Holland,  and  Italy,  reached 
him  in  due  time.  He  made  haste  to  visit  Dr.  Canton,  the  first  Eng- 
lishman who  had  succeeded  in  drawing  electricity  from  the  clouds, 
and  who  had  been,  from  the  beginning,  a  staunch  defender  of  the 
Franklinian  theory.  We  are  told,  too,  that  he  went  to  the  old 
printing-house  in  Wild  Court,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  where  he  had 
last  worked  in  London,  and  going  to  a  particular  press,  said  to  the 
two  men  at  work  upon  it :  "  Come,  my  friends,  we  will  drink  to- 
gether ;  it  is  now  forty  years  since  I  worked  like  you  at  this  press 
as  a  journeyman  printer."  So  saying,  he  sent  for  a  gallon  of  beer, 
and  gave  the  toast,  "  Success  to  Printing  ;"*  a  performance   not 

*  Memoirs  of  Franklin,  by  his  grandson,  i.,  448. 


8d0  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OF   BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [1757. 

very  consistent  with  his  denunciations  of  beer  in  the  same  office 
thirty-three  years  before. 

He  was  soon  established  in  lodgings  at  Number  Seven  Craven 
Street,  Strand,  a  fashionable  little  street  in  those  days,  afterwards 
the  residence  of  James  Smith.  His  landlady  was  Mrs.  Margaret 
Stevenson,  one  of  the  most  amiable  of  women,  with  whom  and  her 
daughter  he  soon  contracted  a  friendship  which  was  warmly  cher- 
ished on  both  sides  as  long  as  he  lived.  Franklin  was  always  fortu- 
nate. Especially  fortunate  was  he  in  this  instance,  for  at  Mrs. 
Stevenson's  house  he  enjoyed,  during  his  long  exile,  all  of  a  home 
which  can  be  enjoyed  away  from  home ;  and  he  was  a  man  who 
could  scarcely  have  endured  existence  without  a  home-like  rest  to 
retire  to.  He  lived  in  a  style  of  considerable  liberality  in  London. 
He  had  brought  with  them  a  servant  from  Philadelphia,  and  a  ne- 
gro for  his  son.  Finding  the  hackney  coaches  of  London  exceed- 
ingly dilapidated  and  inconvenient,  he  set  up  a  modest  chariot  of 
his  own,  that  the  representative  of  Pennsylvania  might  be  able  to 
present  himself  becomingly  at  the  doors  of  ministers  and  members 
of  parliament.  His  son  William  entered  the  Middle  Temple,  and 
was  soon  deep  in  the  law  books,  intending  to  return  to  Philadelphia 
a  barrister. 

Franklin  entered  at  once  upon  the  business  of  his  agency.  His 
first  step  was  to  obtain  an  interview  with  the  Messrs.  Penn,  and  lay 
before  them  the  grievances  of  the  Assembly.  He  argued  the  mat- 
ter with  them  in  the  most  candid  and  conciliatory  spirit,  hoping  to 
show  them  how  much  it  was  for  their  interest  to  deal  justly  with 
Pennsylvania.  He  soon  perceived  that  their  minds  were  steeled 
against  him  and  his  cause.  They  were  haughty  and  reserved.  They 
evaded  and  quibbled.  He  had  with  him  a  short  paper  or  memo- 
randum, entitled.  Heads  of  Complaint,  which  appears  to  have  been 
drawn  up  as  a  guide  to  himself  in  his  conversation  with  them.  It 
consisted  of  four  paragraphs,  which  were  to  this  effect  :*  1 .  The 
Royal  Charter  gives  the  Assembly  the  power  to  make  laws ;  the 
proprietary  Instructions  deprive  it  of  that  power.  2.  The  Royal 
Charter  confers  on  the  Assembly  the  right  to  raise,  grant,  and 
withhold  supplies ;  the  Instructions  neutralize  that  right.  3.  The 
exemption  of  the  proprietary  estate  from  taxation  is  unjust.    4.  The 

*  Minutes  of  the  Provincial  Council  of  Pennsylvania,  viii.,  278. 


AGED    51.]  IN   ENGLAND    AGAIN.  391 

proprietaries  are  besought  to  consider  these  grievances  seriously, 
and  redress  them,  that  harmony  may  be  restored.  This  paper 
Franklin  handed  to  the  gentlemen.  They  chose  to  consider  it 
highly  disrespectful ;  they  said  it  was  very  brief;  it  was  vague ;  it 
related  no  instances  ;  it  was  neither  dated,  signed,  nor  addressed. 
Franklin  signed  the  paper,  and  appended  the  date  of  August  20th, 
lVo7.  The  gentlemen  still  affected  not  to  know  what  the  paper 
meant,  nor  what  the  Assembly  wanted.  They  said,  that  in  order 
to  arrive  at  an  understanding  of  the  matter,  it  would  be  necessary 
for  them  to  examine  the  recent  acts  of  the  Assembly,  which  would 
be  a  work  of  time.  Meanwhile,  would  Mr.  Franklin  draw  up  a 
supply  bill  such  as  the  Assembly  looiild  approve,  so  that  they 
might  perceive  the  precise  aim  and  desire  of  the  Assembly  ?  Mr. 
Franklin  would  not ;  he  had  no  authority  to  do  any  thing  of 
the  kind.  Mr.  Thomas  Penn  regretted  that  the  powers  of  the 
agent  were  so  limited.  The  long  vacation,  he  added,  was  just 
begun ;  the  lawyers  were  all  out  of  town,  without  whose  advice 
they  could  not  think  of  acting  in  so  important  an  affair.  When 
the  lawyers  returned,  they  would  lay  the  matter  before  them  for 
their  opinion. 

From  all  of  w^hich  the  agent  inferred,  that  the  proprietaries 
meant  to  oppose  him  by  every  means  in  their  power,  and  that  if  he 
succeeded  in  his  mission,  it  could  only  be  after  a  hard-fought  battle. 
He  sought  the  proprietaries  no  more,  but  directed  all  his  energies 
to  winning  over  those  with  whom  the  final  decision  must  rest,  the 
Lords  of  Trade,  and  the  members  of  the  king's  council. 

After  this  preliminary  survey  of  the  field  of  contention,  he,  too, 
had  a  "long  vacation."  His  confinement  on  shipboard  for  ten 
weeks,  had  so  lowered  the  tone  of  his  bodily  health,  that  the  in- 
vigorating change  of  climate,  and  the  sudden  renewal  of  activity, 
were  more  than  his  system  could  bear.  His  overtasked  strength 
gave  way,  and  he  had  an  eight  weeks'  illness.  He  was  attended 
by  the  good  Dr.  Fothergill,  who  (the  healing  art  being  in  its  in- 
fancy) did  all  he  could  to  debilitate  his  system  still  more ;  and  he 
was  saved,  at  last,  by  a  tremendous  revolt  of  nature  against  the 
medicine  that  was  killing  him.  Franklin's  narrative  of  his  sick- 
ness and  cure  seems  to  me  to  be  as  valuable  to  illustrate  the  an 
cient  barbaric  methods  of  practice,  as  the  accounts  we  have  of 
General  Washington's  last  hours. 


392  LIFE    AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [175 7. 

He  had,  first,  a  violent  cold,  with  the  usual  fever,  from  which  he 
was  soon  relieved.  "  It  was  not  long,"  he  continues,  "  before  I  had 
another  severe  cold,  which  continued  longer  than  the  first,  attended 
by  great  pain  in  my  head,  the  top  of  which  was  very  hot,  and  when 
the  pain  went  ofif,  very  sore  and  tender.  These  fits  of  pain  contin- 
ued sometimes  longer  than  at  others ;  seldom  less  than  twelve  hours, 
and  once  thirty-six  hours.  I  was  now  and  then  a  little  delirious ; 
they  cupped  me  on  the  back  of  the  head,  which  seemed  to  ease  me 
for  the  present ;  I  took  a  great  deal  of  bark,  both  in  substance 
and  in  fusion,  and  too  soon  thinking  myself  well,  I  ventured  out 
twice,  to  do  a  little  business,  and  forward  the  service  I  am  engaged 
in,  and  both  times  got  fresh  cold,  and  fell  down  again.  My  good 
doctor  grew  very  angry  with  me  for  acting  contrary  to  his  cau- 
tions and  directions,  and  obliged  me  to  promise  more  observance 
for  the  future.  He  attended  me  very  carefully  and  afiectionately, 
and  the  good  lady  of  the  house  nursed  me  kindly.  Billy  (his  son) 
was  also  of  great  service  to  me,  in  going  from  place  to  place,  where 
I  could  not  go  myself,  and  Peter  (his  servant)  was  very  diligent 
and  attentive.  I  took  so  much  bark,  in  various  ways,  that  I  began 
to  abhor  it.  I  durst  not  take  a  vomit  for  fear  of  my  head ;  but,  at 
last,  I  was  seized  one  morning  with  a  vomiting  and  purging,  the 
latter  of  which  continued  the  greater  part  of  the  day,  and,  I  be- 
lieve, was  a  kind  of  crisis  to  the  distemper,  carrying  it  clear  ofi", 
for,  ever  since,  I  feel  quite  lightsome,  and  am  every  day  gathering- 
strength  ;  so  I  hope  my  seasoning  is  over,  and  that  I  shall  enjoy 
better  health  during  the  rest  of  my  stay  in  England."* 

Resuming  his  labors  as  agent  for  Pennsylvania,  he  engaged  the 
services  of  leading  counsel,  who  rendered  valuable  aid  at  a  later 
period  of  the  controversy.  He  heard,  meanwhile,  nothing  from 
the  proprietaries,  or  their  lawyers.  Twelve  months  elapsed  be- 
fore any  reply  was  vouchsafed  to  his  Heads  of  Complaint.  They 
then  replied,  at  considerable  length,  and  with  much  show  of  care 
and  elaboration,  not  to  Franklin,  but  to  the  Assembly,  transmitting 
the  document  directly  to  Governor  Denny.  This  paper  denied 
every  thing,  conceded  nothing,  and  concluded  with  sundry  flings 
at  Franklin;  intimating  that  every  thing  could,  probably,  be 
arranged  between  the  Assembly  and  the  proprietaries,  if  the  As- 

*  Fnmklin  to  his  Wife.— Sparks,  vii.,  150. 


AGED    51.]  IN    ENGLAND    AGAIN.  393 

sembly  would  only  select,  as  their  representatives,  "  cool  and  tem- 
perate persons,"  "  persons  of  candor ;"  fully  empowered  to  draw 
up  Supply  Bills,  and  engage  the  Assembly  to  pass  them.  This 
foolish  paper,  I  believe,  produced  no  effect  of  any  kind,  except,  per- 
haps, to  give  keener  point  to  the  satirical  pieces  in  which  Franklin, 
for  the  entertainment  of  posterity,  has  recorded  his  opinion  of  the 
proprietaries. 

The  agent,  meanwhile,  was  flying  at  higher  game.  The  king  in 
council  was  to  be  the  final  judge  between  the  Assembly  and  the 
proprietaries.  The  agent  had  no  sooner  recovered  from  his  sick- 
ness, than  he  endeavored  to  gain  for  the  Assembly's  cause  the  good 
opinion  of  a  man  of  whom  both  king  and  council  stood  in  awe. 

William  Pitt  was  then  the  foremost  man  of  all  the  world.  A 
monarch  has  seldom  been  more  absolutely  the  master  of  a  king- 
dom's resources  than  the  Great  Commoner  was  of  England's,  during 
the  last  three  years  of  the  reign  of  George  II. ;  years  signalized  by 
the  conquest  of  India  and  Canada.  The  House  of  Commons  but 
ratified  his  plans.  Not  a  man  in  the  Cabinet  (said  a  member  of  the 
Cabinet)  dared  look  up  when  Mr.  Pitt  frowned.  He  occasionally 
required  ministers  to  sign  papers  relating  to  their  own  department, 
which  they  had  not  read,  and  they  obeyed  him.  The  old  king,  the 
natural  enemy  of  worth  and  talent,  as  all  the  Georges  were,  dishked 
and  was  ruled  by  him.  He  was  the  idol  of  the  people,  for  he  kept 
the  gazettes  filled  with  victories.  "  It  w^ill  soon  be  as  shameful," 
diarized  Horace  Walpole,  "to  beat  a  Frenchman  as  to  beat  a 
woman.  Indeed,  one  is  forced  to  ask  every  morning  what  victory 
there  is,  for  fear  of  missing  one."  Again  :  "  The  park  guns  will 
never  have  time  to  cool ;  we  ruin  ourselves  in  gunpowder  and  sky- 
rockets." Again  :  "  Victories  come  tumbling  so  over  one  another 
from  distant  parts  of  the  globe,  that  it  looks  just  like  the  handiwork 
of  a  lady  romance- writer."  And  again  :  "  What  lectures  will  be 
read  to  poor  children  on  this  era !  Europe  taught  to  tremble, 
the  great  king  humbled,  the  treasures  of  Peru  diverted  into  the 
Thames,  Asia  subdued  by  the  gigantic  Clive  !"  And  all  this  seemed 
the  work  of  William  Pitt. 

Franklin  could  not  so  much  as  procure  one  interview  with  this 

powerful  minister.     He  made  several  attempts  to  reach  him,  but 

could  not.     The  first  man  of  America  could  not  get  access  to  the 

first  man  in  Europe.     The  only  man  in  the  Biitish  empire  fit  to  be 

17* 


394  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l758. 

Mr.  Pitt's  king  or  colleague,  was  unable  to  approach  his  person. 
This  curious  fact  shows  the  superiority  then  universally  conceded 
to  rank,  as  well  as  the  slight  importance  attached  to  the  colonies. 
"Poets  and  painters,"  wrote  the  same  Walpole,  in  1759,  "imagine 
they  confer  the  honor  when  they  are  protected ;"  a  delusion  which 
the  courtly  diarist  evidently  considered  too  preposterous  for  refuta- 
tion ;  and  Horace  Walpole  was  an  extreme  liberal  for  his  day  and 
rank.  He  would  doubtless  have  included  philosophers  in  his  re- 
mark, if  he  had  thought  of  them  at  the  moment ;  he  makes  no 
secret  of  his  opinion  that  the  friendship  between  Dr.  Johnson  and 
Mrs.  Thrale  conferred  no  honor  upon  the  lady. 

The  mind  of  Mr.  Pitt,  moreover,  was  fixed  upon  Germany.  In 
Germany,  by  Frederick's  aid,  he  meant  to  conquer  the  king  of 
France.  Such  was  his  plan,  it  seems,  until  Franklin  revealed  to 
him  the  supreme  importance  of  extirpating  the  French  power  in 
America,  and  induced  him  to  send  Amherst  and  Wolfe  to  Quebec. 
This,  however,  is  tradition  only.  Franklin  merely  says,  in  one 
of  his  later  letters  :  "  I  made  several  attempts  to  be  introduced  to 
Lord  Chatham  (then  Mr.  Pitt),  but  without  success.  He  was  then 
too  great  a  man,  or  too  much  occupied  in  afiairs  of  greater  moment. 
I  was  therefore  obliged  to  content  myself  with  a  kind  of  non-appa- 
rent and  unacknowledged  communication  through  Mr.  Potter  and 
Mr.  Wood,  his  secretaries,  who  seemed  to  cultivate  an  acquaintance 
with  me  by  their  civilities,  and  drew  from  me  what  information  I 
could  give  relative  to  the  American  war,  with  my  sentiments  occa- 
sionally on  measures  that  were  proposed  or  advised  by  others, 
which  gave  me  the  opportunity  of  recommending  and  enforcing  the 
utility  of  conquering  Canada.  I  afterwards  considered  Mr.  Pitt  as 
an  inaccessible.  I  admired  him  at  a  distance,  and  made  no  more 
attempts  for  a  nearer  acquaintance.  I  had  only  once  or  twice  the 
satisfaction  of  hearing,  through  Lord  Shelburne,  and,  I  think.  Lord 
Stanhope,  that  he  did  me  the  honor  of  mentioning  me  sometimes  as 
a  person  of  respectable  character." 

Whether  these  secretaries  or  their  chief  aided  him  in  the  business 
of  his  agency  we  are  not  informed.  He  was  much  in  need  of  a  lift 
from  some  powerful  hand,  for,  in  those  years  of  excitement  and 
triumph,  when  both  public  and  private  men  were  intent  upon  the 
startling  events  of  the  war,  it  was  not  easy  to  win  attention  to  the 
affairs  of  a  distant  colony.     Slow,  indeed,  was  the  progress  of  the 


AGED    52.]  IN  ENGLAND   AGAIN.  395 

agent  for  Pennsylvania.  When  he  had  been  in  England  two  whole 
years,  it  could  not  be  said  that  he  had  advanced  towards  his  object 
a  single  step. 

Nevertheless  he  had,  in  some  degree,  prepared  the  way  for  an 
advance.  Besides  giving  correct  information  respecting  the  dis- 
pute to  a  large  circle  of  influential  friends,  he  had  done  much  to 
enlighten  the  public  mind,  misled  by  false  statements  in  the  news- 
papers. The  Penns  and  their  adherents  had  uniformly  explained 
the  delay  in  the  granting  of  supplies  so  as  to  throw  the  blame  upon 
the  loyal  and  patriotic  Assembly.  William  Franklin  came  forward 
in  the  newspapers  to  show  that  it  was  the  arrogance  of  the  proprie- 
taries which  alone  had  hindered  the  work  of  defending  the  prov- 
ince and  punishing  the  enemies  of  the  king.  So  inchned  were 
the  editors  of  that  day  to  the  side  of  prerogative,  that  Franklin 
was  compelled  to  pay  for  the  insertion  of  articles  written  only  to 
refute  calumnious  letters  printed  in  previous  numbers. 

But  proprietary  falsehoods  had  spread  too  widely  to  be  neu- 
tralized by  a  few  short  articles  in  such  newspapers  as  were  then 
published  in  London.  Franklin  and  his  son  set  about  preparing  a 
complete  history  of  the  controversy  between  the  Assembly  and  the 
Governors,  from  the  time  of  William  Penn  to  that  of  Governor 
Denny.  William  Franklin,  who,  in  his  place  as  clerk  of  the  Assem- 
bly, had  listened  to  the  debates  for  seven  years,  and  had  thus  ac- 
quired a  perfect  knowledge  of  the  subject,  was  the  writer  of  this 
work  ;  his  father  supplying  reminiscences,  suggestions,  documents, 
and  all  other  needful  aid.  This  production,  with  its  appendices, 
was  equivalent  to  an  octavo  volume  of  five  hundred  pages ;  but 
more  than  half  of  it  consists  of  papers  and  extracts  from  papers, 
written  by  Franklin  in  reply  to  the  messages  of  Governors  and  the 
insolent  letters  of  the  proprietaries. 

This  voluminous  work  was  executed  with  some  ability,  though 
in  great  haste.  It  was  supposed,  at  the  time,  to  have  been  written 
by  Franklin  himself.  We  do  not  need  Franklhi's  explicit  denial  to 
be  perfectly  sure  that  he  was  not  its  author — so  diflferent  is  it  in 
manner  from  his  own  brief  and  witty  eflusions.  All  the  great 
masters  in  the  art  of  winning  men  have  been  fertile  in  apt  or  bril- 
liant illustrative  similes.  Simile  is  the  popular  instructor's  grand 
secret.  Socrates,  FrankHn,  Adam  Smith,  Sydney  Smith,  Palmer- 
ston,  Carlyle,  Henry  Ward  Beecher,  Lowell  Mason,  Spurgeon,  Gougli, 


896  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIISr   FKANKUN.  [1759. 

the  great  poets,  the  great  orators,  the  great  School-masters,  the  great 
editors,  all  have  been  gifted  by  nature  with  the  power  vividly  to 
perceive,  and  skillfully  to  use,  remote  resemblances.  Franklin  sel- 
dom wrote  a  whole  page  or  spoke  three  minutes,  without  telling  a 
story  or  making  a  comparison.  The  mere  absence,  therefore,  from 
this  Historical  Review  of  all  those  happy  Franklinian  flashes  that 
occur  with  such  remarkable  frequency  in  all  his  writings,  would  be 
enough  to  show  that  it  was  not  his  work.  Perhaps,  when  the 
Natural  History  of  Genius  comes  to  be  investigated,  this  narrative 
may  be  compared  with  Franklin's  own  writings  to  illustrate  some 
yet  to  be  discovered  law  of  the  transmission  of  qualities.  More- 
over, Franklin  had  not,  at  the  age  of  fifty-two,  the  desk  patience 
to  produce  so  extensive  a  composition. 

That  this  Historical  Review  attracted  attention  in  England  and 
influenced  opinion,  the  monthly  Magazines  of  the  year  1759  still  tes- 
tify. The  Monthly  Review  concurred  with  it :  the  Critical  Review 
attempted  refutation :  but  both  spoke  of  the  work  with  respect. 
Franklin  took  care  that  copies  should  reach  the  hands  of  every  man 
in  England  and  in  America,  whose  good  opinion  could  forward,  or 
whose  ill  opinion  could  hinder  his  cause.  He  sent  to  his  partner, 
Mr.  David  Hall,  five  hundred  copies  for  sale  and  distribution  in 
Pennsylvania,  twenty-five  copies  to  his  nephew,  Mecom,  in  Boston, 
and  twenty-five  to  his  old  partner,  Mr.  James  Parker,  in  New 
York, — ^booksellers  all  of  them. 

Such  were  his  official  labors  during  the  first  years  of  his  residence 
in  England.  The  slow  progress  of  his  afiair  left  him  abundant 
leisure  for  the  enjoyment  of  society,  and  no  man  was  better  fitted 
than  he  either  to  enjoy  society  or  contribute  to  its  enjoyment.  He 
was  formed  to  mingle  happily  with  his  kind.  He  was  a  clubbable 
man.  Electricity  was  still  the  popular  branch  of  natural  science. 
He  set  up  his  apparatus  in  Craven  Street,  and  entertained  his  friends 
almost  daily  with  the  repetition  of  those  brilliant  experiments  of  whicli 
they  had  read  in  his  published  letters,  nor  had  he  ceased  to 
experiment  for  his  own  instruction.  He  had  the  most  powerful  and 
complete  electrical  machine  that  ever  had  been  constructed,  one 
capable  of  producing  a  nine  inch  spark.  "  My  cushion,"  he  says, 
"  was  of  buckskin,  with  a  long  damp  flap,  and  had  a  wire  from  it 
through  the  window  down  to  the  iron  rails  in  the  yard;  the  con- 
ductor of  tin  four  feet  long  and  about  four  inches  diameter."     At 


AGED  53.]  IN  ENGLAND  AGAIN.  397 

these  electrical  matinees  was  afterwards  introduced  the  Armonica  as 
improved  by  Franklin,  who  saw  this  instrument  for  the  first  time 
during  his  residence  in  London.  He  was  enchanted  with  it,  and 
played  upon  it  with  considerable  effect.  His  improvement  gave  it 
such  increased  celebrity  that  it  was  often  played  upon  at  public 
concerts.  His  own  Armonica,  the  very  instrument  with  which,  a 
thousand  times,  he  dehghted  his  guests  in  Philadelphia,  London,  and 
Paris,  is  still  preserved. 

His  love  of  music  added  greatly  to  his  enjoyment  of  life  in  the 
metropolis  of  his  country.  Handel,  venerable  and  blind,  still  lin- 
gered in  extreme  old  age  upon  the  scene  of  so  many  triumphs.* 
Franklin  was  just  in  time  to  see  the  sublime  old  man,  one  of  the 
sturdiest  characters  of  modern  times,  led  to  the  organ  for  the  last 
time,  and  conduct  one  of  his  own  works.  He  heard  Handel's 
oratorios  and  his  now  forgotten  operas,  always  with  admiration,  but 
not  with  blind  admiration.  He  had  reflected  much  upon  music,  and 
would  fain  have  restored  to  it  an  element  of  common  sense.  He 
would  have  had  the  music  subordinate  and  obedient  to  the  words 
of  the  song,  enhancing  their  effect;  not  overwhelming  and  hiding 
them. 

Once,  when  his  brother  Peter  sent  him  from  Boston  a  homely 
song  of  his  own  composition  to  get  it  set  to  music  by  some  London 
composer,  he  replied  :  "  If  you  had  given  your  song  to  some  country 
girl  in  the  heart  of  Massachusetts,  who  had  never  heard  any 
other  than  psalm  tunes,  or  Chevy-Chase,  the  Children  in  the  Wood, 
the  Spanish  Lady,  and  such  simple  old  ditties,  but  has  naturally  a 
good  ear,  she  might  more  probably  have  made  a  pleasing  pop  ilar 
tune  for  you  than  any  of  our  masters  here."  "  The  ancient  singing," 
he  continues,  *'was  only  a  more  pleasing,  because  a  melodious 
manner  of  speaking;  it  was  capable  of  all  the  graces  of  prose 
oratory,  while  it  added  the  pleasure  of  harmony.  A  modern  song, 
on  the  contrary,  neglects  all  the  proprieties  and  beauties  of  common 
speech,  and  in  their  place  introduces  its  defects  and  absurdities  as  so 
many  graces.  I  am  afraid  you  will  hardly  take  my  word  for  this, 
and  therefore  I  must  endeavor  to  support  it  by  proof.  Here  is  the 
first  song  I  laid  my  hand  on.  It  happens  to  be  a  composition  of  one 
of  our  greatest  masters,  the  ever-famous  Handel.     It  is  not  one  of 

*  See  8clioelcher''8  Life  of  Handel  (republished  in  the  United  States),  for  a  most  pleasing  por- 
traiture of  a  valiant  and  victorious  naan  of  genius. 


398  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [iTSQ. 

his  juvenile  performances,  before  his  taste  could  be  improved  and 
formed;  it  appeared  when  his  reputation  was  at  the  highest,  is 
greatly  admired  by  all  his  admirers,  and  is  really  excellent  in  its 
kind.  It  is  called,  '  The  additional  favorite  Song  in  Judas 
Maccabeus.' " 

He  th6n  copied  part  of  the  music  of  the  song,  and  showed  what 
liberties  the  indomitable  German  had  taken  with  English  parts  of 
speech.  "I  have  seen  in  another  song,"  he  adds,  "seventeen 
syllables  made  of  three,  and  sixteen  of  one.  The  latter  I  remember 
was  the  word  charms  /  viz.,  c/ia,  a,  a,  a,  «,  «,  a,  a,  a,  «,  a,  a,  a,  a, 
alarms.  Stammering  with  a  witness!"  He  alludes,  also,  to  the 
evident  23reference  on  the  part  of  an  audience  for  the  simple  melo- 
dies of  the  olden  time,  and  infers  from  it  that  modern  compositions 
are  a  departure  from  the  true  principle,  and  minister  to  a  false 
taste. 

Garrick  was  then  in  the  meridian  of  his  powers  and  his  fame. 
Franklin,  who  was  always  fond  of  a  play,  enjoyed  his  acting,  and, 
by  and  by,  made  his  acquaintance.  It  was  Franklin's  opinion  that 
the  only  great  advantage  which  the  inhabitants  of  a  large  city  have 
over  those  of  a  country  town,  is  the  theater.  Libraries,  music, 
society,  news,  science,  art,  luxury,  all  things  good  and  pleasant 
for  soul  or  body,  could  be  had  in  a  thriving  town  of  ten  thousand 
inhabitants,  except  alone  a  good  theater,  which  requires  a  great 
multitude  of  appreciative  and  critical  persons  to  give  it  support, 
and  keep  it  worthy  of  the  great  dramatists  whose  works  it  essays 
to  present. 

There  was  a  lull  in  literary  activity  just  then.  Pope,  Addison, 
Bolingbroke,  Swift,  and  their  friends,  had  passed  away,  but  the 
successors  to  their  place  in  the  public  mind  had  not  appeared. 
Johnson,  not  yet  doctor,  not  yet  pensioned,  not  yet  very  famous, 
had  finished  his  dictionary,  but,  after  twenty-one  years  of  drudgery, 
was  still  a  drudge.  Goldsmith,  recently  home  from  his  flute  tour 
on  the  continent,  was  trying,  and  vainly  trying,  to  get  into  prac- 
tice as  a  surgeon  in  London  ;  he  was  about  to  go  to  jail  for  debt, 
and  write  the  vicar  of  Wakefield.  One  Williani  Burness,  gardener, 
of  Ayrshire,  Scotland,  was  finishing  off  that  clay  cottage  in  which 
his  first-born,  Robert  Burns,  first  saw  the  light,  when  Franklin  had 
been  eighteen  months  in  London.  Young  Mr.  Edmund  Burke, 
from  Dublin,  was  enjoying  a  little  celebrity  from  his  recent  Essay 


AGED  53.]  IN  ENGLAND  AGAIN.  399 

on  the  Sublime  and  Beautiful.  He  was,  however,  still  working 
upon  the  Annual  Register  as  a  literary  journeyman.  Fox  was  an 
indulged,  precocious  boy  of  nine.  Young  Gibbon  had  just  re 
turned  from  his  protestant  tutor  at  Lausanne,  more  than  cured  of 
his  boyish  love  of  the  Catholic  religion.  Hume  had  pubhshed  a 
few  volumes  of  his  misleading  History  of  England,  wlrich  was  re- 
ceived by  the  liberal  portion  of  the  public  with  just  execration. 
Adam  Smith  was  correcting  the  pro6f  sheets  of  his  Theory  of 
Moral  Sentiments;  a  Glasgow  professor  then,  the  Wealth  of 
ISTations  conceived,  but  sixteen  years  from  being  finished.  With 
most  of  these  noted  persons,  either  then  or  afterwards,  Franklin  be- 
came acquainted.  Not  with  Johnson,  I  believe,  the  man  most  op- 
posite to  himself  of  any  in  England.  Nor  intimately  with  any  but 
Burke,  Smith,  and  Hume.  Franklin's  chief  associates  in  London 
were  such  devotees  of  science  as  Cannon,  Collinson,  and  other  active 
members  of  the  Royal  Society,  and  clergymen  of  Unitarian  leanings, 
like  Priestley  and  Price.  His  official  character  made  him  intimate 
with  the  magnates  of  the  law,  with  one  of  >vhom  he  had,  in  the 
year  iVoS,  a  very  curious  conversation,  long  afterwards  related  by 
Franklin  to  his  young  friend,  Josiah  Quincy.  The  lawyer  was  Mr. 
Pratt,  afterwards  Lord  Camden.  Said  the  lawyer,  ''  For  all  that 
you  Americans  say  of  your  loyalty,  and  all  that,  I  know  you  will 
one  day  throw  off  your  dependence  on  this  country ;  and,  notwith- 
standing your  boasted  affection  for  it,  you  will  set  up  for  independ- 
ence." Franklin  replied:  "No  such  idea  was  ever  entertained 
by  the  Americans,  nor  will  any  such  ever  enter  their  heads,  unless 
you  grossly  abuse  them."  "  Very  true,"  said  Mr.  Pratt,  "  that  is 
one  of  the  main  causes  I  see  will  happen,  and  will  produce  the 
event." 

How  heartily  he  enjoyed  the  society  of  literary  and  learned  men, 
his  letters  still  pleasantly  reveal  to  us.  The  Franklin  of  1759,  we 
must  note,  was,  in  some  particulars,  a  very  different  person  from  the 
Franklin  of  1724,  or  even  the  Franklin  of  1744.  His  figure  had 
become  that  of  a  thriving  Englishman  of  fifty-three  years,  portly, 
though  far  from  corpulent.  He  was  fonder  of  his  ease  than  for- 
merly, not  disinclined  to  sit  after  dinner,  and  perfectly  capable  of 
finishing  his  second  bottle  of  claret,  though  better  pleased  with  his 
usual  very  moderate  allowance.  In  general  society,  not  talkative, 
often  taciturn ;  among  his  intimates,  the  very  gayest,  wittiest,  hap- 


400  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [l759. 

piest,  simplest,  wisest  of  men,  always  ready  with  sense,  fact,  badin- 
age, song,  or  repartee,  as  the  moment  demanded.  "  I  find,"  he 
wrote  about  this  time,  "  that  I  love  company,  chat,  a  laugh,  a  glass, 
and  even  a  song,  as  well  as  ever ;  and  at  the  same  time  relish  better 
than  I  used  to  do  the  grave  observations  and  wise  sentences  of  old 
men's  conversation." 

The  leading  traits  of  his  character  never  changed  ;  least  of  all, 
his  instinct  to  effect  improvements.  He  wanted  terribly  to  improve 
the  smoky  street  lamps  of  dismal  London,  and  he  actually  did  draw 
up  a  plan  for  having  the  streets  of  the  city  swept  before  busi- 
ness hours  in  the  morning.  "  An  accidental  occurrence,"  he  relates, 
"  had  instructed  me  how  much  sweeping  might  be  done  in  a  little 
time.  I  found  at  my  door  in  Craven  Street,  one  morning,  a  poor 
woman  sweeping  my  pavement  with  a  birch  broom ;  she  appeared 
very  pale  and  feeble,  as  just  come  out  of  a  fit  of  sickness.  I  asked 
who  employed  her  to  sweep  there ;  she  said,  '  Nobody,  but  I  am 
poor  and  in  distress,  and  I  sweeps  before  gentlefolkeses  doors,  and 
hopes  they  will  give  ,me  something.'  I  bid  her  sweep  the  whole 
street  clean,  and  I  would  give  her  a  shilling ;  this  was  at  nine 
o'clock ;  at  noon  she  came  for  the  shilling.  From  the  slowness  I 
saw  at  first  in  her  working,  I  could  scarce  believe  that  the  work  was 
done  so  soon,  and  sent  my  servant  to  examine  it,  who  reported  that 
the  whole  street  was  swept  perfectly  clean,  and  all  the  dust  placed 
in  the  gutter,  which  was  in  the  middle  ;  and  the  next  rain  washed 
it  quite  away,  so  that  the  pavement  and  even  the  kennel  were 
perfectly  clean." 

His  plan  was  submitted  to  Dr.  Fothergill,  but  had  no  immediate 
results.  People  at  that  day  submitted  to  the  ten  thousand  nui- 
sances of  a  city  as  to  the  inevitable  decrees  of  fate.  Sir  John 
Fielding  demonstrated  to  Mr.  Grenville,  when  he  was  prime  minis- 
ter, that  a  mounted  night  police,  twenty-four  in  number,  would 
clear  London  and  its  environs  of  highwaymen  ;  but,  thirty  years 
after,  ladies  continued  to  be  robbed  on  their  return  from  the  opera  ; 
to  say  nothing  of  Holborn  Hill  and  Hounslow  Heath.  Franklin 
felt  it  necessary  to  apologize,  as  it  were,  to  posterity,  for  troubling 
himself  about  such  a  trifle  as  the  health  and  comfort  of  half  a  mil- 
lion human  beings.  "  Some,"  he  writes,  "  may  think  these  trifling 
matters  not  worth  minding  or  relating ;  but,  when  they  consider, 
that  though  dust  blown  into  the  eyes  of  a  single  person,  or  into  a 


AGED    53.]  IN   ENGLAND    AGAIN.  401 

single  shop  in  a  windy  day,  is  of  but  small  importance,  yet  that  the 
great  number  of  instances  in  a  populous  city,  and  its  frequent  repe- 
tition, gives  it  weight  and  consequence,  perhaps  they  will  not 
censure  very  severely  those  who  bestow  some  attention  to  affairs 
of  this  seemingly  low  nature.  Human  felicity  is  produced  not  so 
much  by  great  pieces  of  good  fortune  that  seldom  happen,  as  by 
little  advantages  that  occur  every  day.  Thus,  if  you  teach  a  poor 
young  man  to  shave  himself,  and  keep  his  razor  in  order,  you  may 
contribute  more  to  the  happiness  of  his  life  than  in  giving  him  a 
thousand  guineas." 

Every  summer  during  his  stay  in  England,  FrankHn,  accompanied 
by  his  son,  spent  a  few  weeks  in  traveling.  A  most  agreeable  tour 
was  that  of  1758,  when  he  visited  the  University  of  Cambridge, 
and  received  the  most  flattering  attention  from  the  chancellor,  the 
vice-chancellor,  and  the  heads  of  colleges.  Dining  every  day  in  their 
halls,  he  had  much  pleasant  discourse  with  the  professors  upon 
new  points  in  natural  philosophy.  The  reducing  of  temperature  by 
evaporation  was  a  novelty  then,  which  Franklin  communicated,  as 
a  piece  of  intelligence,  to  Dr.  lladley,  the  professor  of  chemistry. 
This  led  to  an  interesting  scene. 

"Dr.  Hadley,"  writes  Franklin,  "proposed  repeating  the  experi- 
ments with  ether,  instead  of  common  spirits,  as  the  ether  is  much 
quicker  in  evaporation.  We  accordingly  went  to  his  chamber, 
where  he  had  both  ether  and  a  thermometer.  *  *  *  * 
When  the  thermometer  was  taken  out  of  the  ether,  and  the  ether, 
with  which  the  ball  was  wet,  began  to  evaporate,  the  mercury  sunk 
several  degrees.  The  wetting  was  then  repeated  with  a  feather 
that  had  been  dipped  into  the  ether,  when  the  mercury  sunk  still 
lower.  We  continued  this  operation,  one  of  us  wetting  the  ball, 
and  another  of  the  company  blowing  on  it  with  the  bellows  to 
quicken  the  evaporation,  the  mercury  sinking  all  the  time,  till  it 
came  down  to  7,  which  is  25  degrees  below  the  freezing  point,  when 
we  left  off.  Soon  after  it  passed  the  freezing  point,  a  thin  coat  of 
ice  began  to  cover  the  ball.  Whether  this  was  water  collected  and 
condensed  by  the  coldness  of  the  ball,  from  the  moisture  in  the  air, 
or  from  our  breath  ;  or  whether  the  feather,  when  dipped  into  the 
ether,  might  not  sometimes  go  through  it,  and  bring  up  some  of  the 
water  that  was  under  it,  I  am  not  certain ;  perhaps  all  might  con- 
tribute.    The  ice  continued  increasing   till  we  ended  the  experi- 


402  LIFE   AND   IIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FBANKLIN.  [1759. 

ment,  when  it  appeared  near  a  quarter  of  an  inch  thick  all  over  the 
ball,  with  a  number  of  small  spicula,  pointing  outwards.  From 
this  experiment  one  may  see  the  possibility  of  freezing  a  man  to 
death  on  a  warm  summer's  day,  if  he  were  to  stand  in  a  passage 
through  which  the  wind  blew  briskly,  and  to  be  wet  frequently  with 
ether,  a  spirit  that  is  more  inflammable  than  brandy  or  common 
spirits  of  wine." 

From  Cambridge  he  went  to  the  counties  where  his  ancestors 
had  lived,  and  sought  out  living  relations  of  his  own,  and  of  his 
wife.  He  found  at  Wellingborough  a  female  cousin  so  aged  that  she 
could  distinctly  remember  bis  father's  leaving  England  for  America 
seventy-three  years  before.  She  received  her  American  relative 
with  hearty  welcome,  old  as  she  was.  He  discovered  another 
cousin,  a  happy  and  venerable  old  maid  ;  "  a  good,  clever  woman," 
he  wrote,  "  but  poor,  though  vastly  contented  with  her  situation, 
and  very  cheerful ;"  a  genuine  Franklin,  evidently.  She  gave  him 
some  of  his  uncle  Benjamin's  old  letters  to  read,  witli  their  pious 
rhymings  and  acrostics,  in  which  occurred  allusions  to  himself  and 
his  sister  Jane  when  they  were  children.  Continuing  their  journey, 
father  and  son  reached  Ecton,  where  so  many  successive  Franklins 
had  plied  the  blacksmith's  hammer.  They  found  that  the  farm  of 
thirty  acres  had  been  sold  to  strangers.  The  old  stone  cottage  of 
their  ancestors  was  used  for  a  school,  but  was  still  called  the  Frank- 
lin House.  Many  relations  and  connections  they  hunted  up,  most 
of  them  old  and  poor,  but  endowed  with  the  inestimable  Franklin- 
ian  gift  of  making  the  best  of  their  lot.  They  copied  tombstones ; 
they  examined  the  parish  register  ;  they  heard  the  chime  of  bells 
play  which  Uncle  Thomas  had  caused  to  be  purchased  for  the  quaint 
old  Ecton  church  seventy  years  before;  and  examined  other  evi- 
dences of  his  worth  and  public  spirit.  Having  paid  due  honor  to 
the  memorials  of  their  race,  not  neglecting  to  visit  many  lowly  con- 
nections of  Mrs.  Franldin,  they  returned  to  London. 

Pleasures  of  another  kind  filled  their  next  vacation,  when  they 
spent  six  weeks  in  Scotland.  In  the  spring  of  1759,  Franklin  ac- 
quired the  title  by  which  he  has  ever  since  been  called,  that  of 
doctor,  conferred  upon  him  by  the  University  of  St.  Andrews. 
Perhaps  it  Avas  in  acknowledgment  of  this  compliment  that  he  set 
his  face  northward  in  the  summtjr  of  the  same  year.  Scotland  did 
him  great  honor  on  this  occasion.     Her  universities  received  him 


AGED   53.]  IN  ENGLAND  AGAIN.  403 

with  distinction,  the  corporation  of  Edinburgh  gave  him  the  free- 
dom of  their  city,  society  opened  its  drawing-rooms  to  him,  and 
men  of  letters  sought  his  acquaintance.  Hume,  Robertson,  and 
Lord  Kames  were  his  chief  associates,  and  he  long  enjoyed  their  in- 
timate friendship.  A  trifling  remark,  which  he  once  chanced  to 
make  to  Dr.  Robertson,  is  supposed  by  some  to  have  suggested  the 
well-known  Macaulayan  image  of  the  New  Zealander  sitting  upon 
an  arch  of  London  bridge  contemplating  the  ruins  of  St.  Paul's. 
"Dr.  Robertson,  the  histoiian,  told  me,"  says  Horace  Walpole, 
"  that  he  knew  Franklin  well,  who  had  been  thrice  in  Scotland  sev- 
eral years  ago.  Being  once  at  Scone,  and  told  it  was  there  the  old 
Scottish  kings  had  used  to  be  crowned,  Franklin  said  :  '  Who  knows 
but  St.  James's  may,  some  time  or  other,  lie  in  ruins  as  Scone 
does  now  V  " 

Dr.  Alexander  Carlyle  gives  the  readers  of  his  Autobiography  an 
imperfect  account  of  a  supper  at  Dr.  Robertson's  house  in  Edin- 
burgh, where  he  met  Dr.  Franklin  and  his  son.  Hume  and  Adam 
Smith  were  of  the  company.  But,  of  a  supper  attended  by  Hume, 
Dr.  CuUen,  Adam  Smith,  Robertson,  and  Franklin,  the  dull  Carlyle 
records  little  worth  repeating.  Franklin,  he  says,  listened  in  silence 
to  the  silly  prate  of  one  who  affected  a  knowledge  of  chemistry, 
and  seemed  averse  to  conversation.  But  "  the  son  was  more  open 
and  communicative,  and  pleased  the  company  better  than  his  father  : 
and  some  of  us  observed  indications  of  that  decided  difference  of 
opinion  between  father  and  son,  which,  in  the  American  war,  alien- 
ated them  altogether." 

A  few  days  of  most  agreeable  sojourn  at  the  country  house  of 
Lord  Kames,  concluded  their  visit  to  Scotland.  Lord  and  Lady 
Kames  rode  with  them  several  miles  on  their  journey  southward: 
the  whole  party  being  on  horseback,  for  there  was  then  scarcely  a 
chaise  north  of  the  city  of  Durham.  "  Our  conversation,  till  we 
came  to  York,"  wrote  Franklin  to  Lord  Kames,  on  reaching  Lon- 
don, "  was  chiefly  a  recollection  of  what  we  had  seen  and  heard, 
the  pleasure  we  had  enjoyed,  and  the  kindnesses  we  had  received, 
in  Scotland,  and  how  far  that  country  had  exceeded  our  expecta- 
tions. On  the  whole,  I  must  say,  I  think  the  time  we  spent  there 
was  six  weeks  of  the  densest  happiness  I  have  met  with  in  any 
part  of  my  life ;  and  the  agreeable  and  instructive  society  we  found 
there  in  such  plenty  has  left  so  pleasing  an  impression  on  my  mem- 


404  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l759. 

ory,  that,  did  not  strong  connections  draw  me  elsewhere,  I  believe 
Scotland  would  be  the  country  I  should  choose  to  spend  the  re- 
mainder of  my  days  in." 

Scotland  was  then  a  pleasant  land  to  an  Englishman  whose  claim 
to  distinction  was  other  than  rank  and  wealth.  That  overshad- 
owing aristocracy  which  in  London  reduced  every  kind  of  merit  to 
the  second  place,  was  not  so  absolutely  supreme  in  Edinburgh. 
Probably  there  were  few  Scotchmen  who,  in  the  actual  presence 
of  a  duke  or  marquis,  could  have  felt  the  possibly  superior  rank 
in  the  scale  of  being  of  a  Glasgow  professor.  But  there  were  not 
many  dukes  or  marquises  in  Scotland,  and  in  the  absence  of  those 
crushing  titles,  such  men  as  Hume  an-d  Adam  Smith  enjoyed  very 
considerable  honor.  Indeed,  rank  itself  in  Scotland  paid  practical 
homage  to  the  magnates  of  the  mind.  The  guardian  of  the  duke 
of  Buccleugh,  happily  for  mankind,  thought  proper  to  purchase  for 
his  ward  the  company  and  conversation  of  Adam  Smith  for  three 
years,  at  the  price  of  a  competent  income  for  the  remainder  of  the 
philosopher's  life;  and  to  the  leisure  thus  earned,  we  owe  the 
Wealth  of  Nations,  the  fruit  of  nine  years'  meditation  and  research. 
Nowhere  in  Europe  was  there  more  activity  of  mind,  a  more  gen- 
eral interest  in  the  affairs  of  the  intellect,  than  in  Scotland  during 
the  latter  half  of  the  last  century.  Edinburgh  was  also  noted  at  that 
time  for  the  informal  heartiness  and  jollity  of  its  social  entertain- 
ments. Its  clubs  were  not  unlike  the  Philadelphia  Junto — a  blend- 
ing of  the  learned  and  the  jovial,  the  merry  and  the  wise. 

Amid  this  holiday  life,  Franklin's  heart  was,  after  all,  at  his  Phil- 
adelphia home.  "  The  regard  and  friendship,"  he  wrote  to  his  wife, 
"I  meet  with  from  persons  of  worth,  and  the  conversation  of  in- 
genious men,  give  me  no  small  pleasure ;  but,  at  this  time  of  life, 
domestic  comforts  afford  the  most  solid  satisfaction,  and  my  uneasi- 
ness at  being  absent  from  my  family,  and  longing  desire  to  be  with 
them,  make  me  often  sigh  in  the  midst  of  cheerful  company."  Gifts 
in  great  number  he  sent  out  to  embellish  his  house  and  adorn  his 
wife  and  daughter.  One  catalogue  of  presents  sent  by  a  friendly 
captain,  has  a  certain  historical  as  well  as  biographical  value ;  it 
both  illustrates  Franklin's  thoughtful  goodness,  and  shows  the  kind 
of  articles  which  liberal  husbands,  a  hundred  years  ago,  were  ac- 
customed to  send  to  their  wives  from  "  home." 

The  catalogue  v,  ill  interest  ladies,  at  least :  "  I  send  you  some 


AGED    53.]  IN    ENGLAND    AGAIN.  405 

English  china :  viz.,  melons  and  leaves  for  a  dessert  of  fruit  and 
cream,  or  the  like ;  a  bowl  remarkable  for  the  neatness  of  the  figures, 
made  at  Bow,  near  this  city  ;  some  coffee  cups  of  the  same  ;  a  Wor- 
cester bowl,  ordinary.  To  show  the  difference  of  workmanship, 
there  is  something  from  all  the  china  works  in  England ;  and  one  old 
true  china  bason  mended,  of  an  odd  color.  The  same  box  contains 
four  silver  salt  ladles,  newest,  but  ugliest  fashion ;  a  little  instru- 
ment to  core  apples ;  another  to  make  little  turnips  out  of  great 
ones ;  six  coarse  diaper  breakfast  cloths ;  they  are  to  spread  on  the 
tea  table,  for  nobody  breakfasts  here  on  the  naked  table,  but  on  the 
cloth  they  set  a  large  tea  board  with  the  cups.  There  is  also  a 
little  basket,  a  present  from  Mrs.  Stevenson  to  Sally,  and  a  pair  of 
garters  for  you,  which  were  knit  by  the  young  lady,  her  daughter, 
who  favored  me  with  a  pair  of  the  same  kind,  the  only  ones  I  have 
been  able  to  wear,  as  they  need  not  be  bound  tight,  the  ridges  in 
them  preventing  their  slipping.  We  send  them  therefore  as  a 
curiosity  for  the  form,  more  than  for  the  value.  Goody  Smith  may, 
if  she  pleases,  make  such  for  me  hereafter.     My  love  to  her. 

"  In  the  great  case,  besides  the  little  box,  is  contained  some  car- 
peting for  the  best  room  floor.  There  is  enough  for  one  large  or 
two  small  ones ;  it  is  to  be  sewed  together,  the  edges  being  first 
felled  down,  and  care  taken  to  make  the  figures  meet  exactly ;  there 
is  bordering  for  the  same.  This  was  my  fancy.  Also  two  large 
fine  Flanders  bedticks,  and  two  pair  of  large  superfine  blankets, 
two  fine  damask  tablecloths  and  napkins,  and  forty-three  ells  of 
Ghentish  sheeting  Holland.  These  you  ordered.  There  are  also 
fifty-six  yards  of  cotton,  printed  curiously  from  copper  plates,  a  new 
invention,  to  make  bed  and  window  curtains ;  and  seven  yards  of 
chair  bottoms,  printed  in  the  same  way,  very  neat.  These  were  my 
fancy ;  but  Mrs.  Stevenson  tells  me  I  did  wrong  not  to  buy  both 
of  the  same  color.  Also  seven  yards  of  printed  cotton,  blue  ground, 
to  make  you  a  gown.  I  bought  it  by  candlelight,  and  liked  it  then, 
but  not  so  well  afterwards.  If  you  do  not  fancy  it,  send  it  as  a 
present  from  me  to  sister  Jenny.  There  is  a  better  gown  for  you, 
of  flowered  tissue,  sixteen  yards,  of  Mrs.  Stevenson's  fancy,  cost 
nine  guineas ;  and  I  think  it  a  great  beauty.  There  was  no  more 
of  the  sort,  or  you  should  have  had  enough  for  a  negligee  or  suit. 

"  There  are  also  snuffers,  a  snuffstand,  and  extinguisher,  of  steel, 
which  I  send  for  the  beauty  of  the  work.     The  extinguisher  is  for 


406  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1759. 

spermaceti  candles  only,  and  is  of  a  new  contrivance,  to  preserve 
the  snuff  upon  the  candle.  There  is  some  music  Billy  bought  for 
his  sister,  and  some  pamphlets  for  the  Speaker  and  for  Susy  Wright. 
A  mahogany  and  a  little  shagreen  box,  with  microscopes  and  other 
optical  instruments  loose,  are  for  Mr.  Alison,  if  he  likes  them ;  if 
not,  put  them  in  my  room  till  I  return.  I  send  the  invoice  of  them, 
and  I  wrote  to  him  formerly  the  reason  of  my  exceeding  his  orders. 
There  are  also  two  sets  of  books,  a  present  from  me  to  Sally,  The 
World  and  The  Connoisseur.     My  love  to  her. 

"I  forgot  to  mention  another  of  my  fancyings,  viz.,  a  pair  of  silk 
blankets,  very  fine.  They  are  of  a  new  kind,  were  just  taken  in  a 
French  prize,  and  such  were  never  seen  in  England  before.  They 
are  called  blankets,  but  I  think  they  will  be  very  neat  to  cover  a 
summer  bed,  instead  of  a  quilt  or  counterpane.  I  had  no  choice,  so 
you  will  excuse  the  soil  on  some  of  the  folds;  your  neighbor  Foster 
can  get  it  off.  I  also  forgot,  among  the  china,  to  mention  a  large 
fine  jug  for  beer,  to  stand  in  the  cooler.  I  fell  in  love  with  it  at 
first  sight ;  for  I  thought  it  looked  like  a  fat  jolly  dame,  clean  and 
tidy,  with  a  neat  blue  and  white  calico  gown  on,  good  natured  and 
lovely,  and  put  me  in  mind  of — somebody.  It  has  the  coffee  cups 
in  it,  packed  in  best  crystal  salt,  of  a  peculiar  nice  flavor,  for  the 
table,  not  to  be  powdered." 

This  is  all  pleasantly  old-fashioned  and  kind.  Heading  it  is  like 
going  over  a  house  of  the  last  century,  preserved,  by  chance,  un- 
changed. In  the  same  letter  he  says :  "  Mrs.  Stevenson  is  very 
diligent  when  I  am  in  any  way  indisposed  ;  but  yet  I  have  a  thou 
sand  times  wished  you  with  me,  and  my  little  Sally,  with  her  ready 
hands  and  feet,  to  do,  and  go,  and  come,  and  get  what  I  wanted." 
And  he  tells  his  little  Sally  to  be  diligent  with  her  French,  to 
amend  her  spelling,  to  go  regularly  to  church,  to  read  over  again 
the  Whole  Duty  of  Man,  and  the  Lady's  Library.  In  another  let- 
ter to  his  wife,  he  writes :  "  I  have  ordered  two  large  print  Com- 
mon Prayer  Books  to  be  bound,  on  purpose  for  you  and  Goody 
Smith  :  and,  that  the  largeness  of  the  print  may  not  make  them  too 
bulky,  the  christenings,  matrimonies,  and  every  thing  else  that  you 
and  she  have  not  immediate  and  constant  occasion  for,  are  to  be 
omitted.  So  you  will  both  of  you  be  reprieved  from  the  upe  of 
sp -Ctacles  in  church  a  little  longer."  >^ 

Mrs.  Franklin,  on  her  part,  wrote  so  frequently,  that  Franklin 


AGED  53.]  IN  ENGLAND  AGAIN.  407 

declared  no  man  before  was  ever  blessed  with  so  punctual  a  corre- 
spondent, and  it  was  of  no  use  for  him  to  try  to  keep  even  with 
her.  She  sent  him  over  a  curious  piece  of  intelligence  in  1758  : 
that  a  rumor  was  spread  all  over  the  colonies  of  his  having  been 
made  a  Baronet,  and  Governor  of  Pennsylvania.  Jane  Mecom,  of 
Boston,  having  heard  the  bewildering  news,  wrote  a  distracted  let- 
ter of  congratulation  to  Mrs.  Franklin,  beginning  thus :  "  Dear 
Sister  :  For  so  I  must  call  you,  come  what  will,  and  if  I  do  not  ex- 
press myself  proper,  you  must  excuse  it,  seeing  I  have  not  been 
accustomed  to  pay  my  compliments  to  Governor  and  Baronets' 
ladies.  I  am  in  the  midst  of  a  great  wash,  and  Sarah  still  sick, 
and  would  gladly  be  excused  writing  this  post,  but  my  husband 
says  I  must  write,  and  give  you  joy,  which  we  heartily  join  in."* 
The  good  soul  ends  by  declaring  herself  "  your  ladyship's  affection- 
ate sister,  and  obedient  humble  servant." 

Though  this  rumor  proved  false,  Mrs.  Franklin  had  proof  enough 
that  her  husband  was  well  esteemed  in  England.  Mr.  Strahan 
wrote  to  her,  entreating  her  to  join  her  husband,  that  both  might 
end  their  days  in  London,  and  he  enjoy  still  the  charm  of  her  hus- 
band's conversation.  He  said  he  had  formed  a  high  opinion  of  Mr. 
Franklin  from  his  letters  and  his  reputation,  but  the  man  himself 
far  surpassed  his  expectation.  "  For  my  own  part,"  he  added,  "I 
never  saw  a  man  who  was,  in  every  respect,  so  perfectly  agreeable 
to  me.  Some  are  amiable  in  one  view,  some  in  another,  he  in  all." 
JVIr.  Strahan  had  other  hopes,  which  he  delicately  hinted.  "  Your 
son,"  he  continued,  "  I  really  think  one  of  the  prettiest  young  gen- 
tlemen I  ever  knew  from  America.  He  seems  to  me  to  have  a  so- 
lidity of  judgment,  not  very  often  to  be  met  with  in  one  of  his 
years.  This,  with  the  daily  opportunities  he  has  of  improving  him- 
self in  the  company  of  his  father,  who  is  at  the  same  time  his 
friend,  his  brother,  his  intimate  and  easy  companion,  affords  an 
agreeable  prospect  that  your  husband's  virtues  and  usefulness  to 
his  country,  may  be  prolonged  beyond  the  date  of  his  own  life. 
Your  daughter  (I  wish  I  could  call  her  mine)  I  find  by  the  reports 
of  all  who  know  her,  is  a  very  amiable  girl  in  all  respects  ;  but  of 
her  I  shall  say  nothing,  till  I  have  the  pleasure  of  seeing  her.  Only 
I  must  observe  to  you,  that  being  the  mistress  of  such  a  family  is  a 

*  Letters  to  Franklin,  p.  188. 


408  LIFE    AXD   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN.  [1760. 

degree  of  happiness,  perhaps,  the  greatest  that  falls  to  the  lot  of 
humanity."  In  a  later  epistle,  Mr.  Strahan  made  a  formal  request 
of  the  hand  of  Miss  Franklni  for  his  son. 

Mrs.  Franklin  was  unmoved  by  these  letters,  as  her  husband  told 
Mr.  Strahan  she  would  be.  "  Mr.  Strahan,"  he  wrote,  "  has  offered 
to  lay  me  a  considerable  wager,  that  a  letter  he  has  wrote  to  you, 
will  bring  you  immediately  over  hither ;  but  I  tell  him  I  will  not 
j)ick  his  pocket;  for  I  am  sure  there  is  no  inducement  strong 
enough  to  prevail  with  you  to  cross  the  seas." 

So  passed  three  years  of  Franklin's  residence  in  England,  the 
tedium  of  delay  being  alleviated  by  congenial  society,  experiments 
in  natural  philosophy,  music,  the  theater,  and  annual  excursions 
into  the  country.  In  the  summer  of  1760  the  cause  he  had  come 
to  promote  was  ripe  for  adjudication. 


CHAPTER  Vn. 

EESULT  OF  THE  APPEAL  TO  THE  KING. 

Franklin's  success  in  London  was  only  partial.  The  project, 
half-formed,  of  inducing  the  king  to  convert  Pennsylvania  into  a 
royal  province,  like  Virginia  or  New  York,  was  abandoned  for  the 
time.  Franklin  was  assured  that  such  a  change,  without  the  con- 
sent of  the  proprietaries,  would  be  extremely  difficult,  and,  prob- 
ably, impossible.  He  confined  his  attention,  therefore,  to  the  gain- 
ing of  two  points,  the  equal  taxation  of  the  proprietary  estates, 
.and  the  deliverance  of  the  Assembly  from  the  tyranny  of  proprie- 
tary instructions.  His  work  was  all  up  hill.  The  appeal  lay  to 
men  who  owed  their  consequence  in  the  world  to  the  prevalence  of 
principles  similar  to  those  upon  wliich  the  brothers  Penn  founded 
their  claim  to  misgovern  Pennsylvania.  Thomas  and  Richard 
Penn  were  fighting  the  battle  of  prerogative,  which  was  the  king's 
cause  as  well  as  their  own.  So,  at  least,  their  counsel  took  care  to 
insinuate,  in  ihelr  papers  and  pleadings. 

Lord  Stirling,  an  American,  who  happened  to  be  in  London,  in 


AGED    54.]         KESULT    OF   THE   APPEAL   TO   THE   KING.  409 

the  spring  of  1V58,  probably  expressed  the  general  feeling  with  re- 
gard to  the  controversy  when  he  wrote :  "  As  to  the  affairs  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  Assembly  have,  for  many  years,  been  demand- 
ing unreasonable  concessions  from  the  proprietaries.  They,  on  the 
other  hand,  have  as  constantly  refused  them."  Result — excitement 
and  confusion.  "  The  Assembly,  on  their  part,  have  sent  home  Mr. 
Franklin  to  represent  what  they  call  their  grievances."*  If  a  na- 
tive American  could  take  this  view  of  a  dispute  with  which  he  had 
had  the  opportunity  to  become  acquainted,  we  cannot  be  surprised 
that  similar  impressions  should  prevail  in  England,  where  few  per- 
sons knew  any  thing  of  the  matter. 

After  the  departure  of  Franklin  from  Philadelphia  in  1757,  the 
strife  between  Governor  Denny  and  the  Assembly  became  more 
violent  than  ever ;  the  assuaging  influence  of  Franklin's  good  sense 
and  good  temper  being  no  longer  exerted.  The  same  Lord  Stirling 
tells  us :  "  While  the  proprietaries  had  men  of  sense  and  virtue  for 
their  governors,  and  while  Franklin  was  at  the  head  of  the  Assem- 
bly, they  were  kept  within  bounds  ;  but  since  they  have  had  a  gov- 
ernor who  is  worse  than  a  fool,  and  since  Franklin  has  been  on  this 
side  of  the  water,  they  are  grown  frantic." 

Governor  Denny,  like  so  many  governors  before  him,  was  soon 
tired  of  the  struggle,  and  gave  his  consent,  early  in  1758,  to  certain 
laws  which  were  contrary  to  his  instructions ;  laws  which  taxed 
equally  the  entire  landed  j)roperty  of  the  province,  and  laws  which 
assumed  that  the  Assembly  was  the  proper  judge  of  the  needs  and 
requirements  of  the  people  it  represented.  The  instant  this  intelli- 
gence reached  London  the  proprietaries  resolved  to  remove  the 
governor.  They  proceeded  with  the  secrecy  congenial  to  men  of 
their  calibre.  Franklin  discovered  the  secret,  however,  and  took  a 
most  effectual  method  to  give  it  currency  in  Pennsylvania.  He 
wrote  to  his  wife :  "  It  was  to  have  been  kept  a  secret  from  me 
that  the  proprietors  were  looking  out  for  a  new  governor;  because 
they  would  not  have  Mr.  Denny  know  any  thing  about  it  till  the 
appointment  was  actually  made,  and  the  gentleman  ready  to  em- 
bark. So  you  may  make  a  secret  of  it  too,  if  you  please,  and  oblige 
all  your  friends  with  it.'"* 

A  ncAV  governor  was  appointed,  Mr.  James  Hamilton,  a  native 
of  Philadelphia,  who  was  less    trammeled  with  instructions  than 

*  Duer's  Life  of  Lord  Stirling,  p.  16. 

18 


410  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FliANKUN.  [l760. 

any  of  his  predecessors.  With  regard  to  the  great  question  of 
taxing  the  Penn  estate,  Governor  Hamilton  was  thus  instructed : 
"  We  recommend  to  you  to  use  the  most  prudent  means  in  your 
power  to  avoid  and  prevent  the  Assembly  from  including  any  part 
of  our  estate  in  the  said  province  in  any  tax  to  be  by  them  raised. 
But,  in  case  the  exigency  of  the  times,  the  king's  immediate  ser- 
vice, and  the  defense  of  the  province  cannot  be  provided  for,  unless 
our  estate  shall  be  included  in  any  bill  for  raising  taxes  for  such 
services ;  then  we  do,  notwithstanding  our  general  dislike  of  the. 
same,  permit  you  to  give  your  assent  to  such  a  bill  as  shall  impose 
a  tax  on  our  rents  and  quit- rents  only,  but  not  on  our  vacant  lands, 
whether  appropriated  or  not,  nor  on  any  fines  or  purchase  money 
pretended  or  supposed  to  be  due  to  us,  which,  we  are  well  advised, 
are  not  in  their  nature  liable  to  taxation;  always  provided,  that 
our  rents  and  quit-rents  are  clear  and  certain  in  their  amount,  that 
proper  and  reasonable  clauses  be  inserted  in  every  such  bill  for 
rendering  as  clear  and  certain  as  possible  the  true  value  of  all  other 
persons'  estates,  that  we  may  not  be  taxed  beyond  our  true  pro- 
portion with  respect  to  others.  And  provided  also,  that  our  respec- 
tive tenants  be  obliged  to  pay  the  same,  and  to  deduct  the  same 
out  of  our  rents,  when  they  account  to  us  or  our  receiver,  and  not 
to  pretend  to  authorize  the  sale  of  any  of  our  lands  for  non-pay- 
ment of  taxes." 

Such  men  offend  by  their  very  concessions,  and  disgust  by  their 
generosity.  These  instructions,  besides  revealing  a  begrudging, 
suspicious  spirit,  still  claimed  exemption  for  countless  millions  of 
acres,  surveyed  and  unsurveyed,  but  all  yielding  the  annual  revenue 
of  an  increased  value. 

Both  Governor  Hamilton  and  Governor  Denny  gave  their  signor 
ture  to  laws  to  which  the  proprietaries  were  opposed,  and  which 
they  determined,  if  possible,  to  have  repealed  by  the  king.  The 
royal  charter,  be  it  observed,  required  that  all  laws  passed  by  the 
Assembly  and  signed  by  the  Governor,  should  be  sent  to  England 
for  the  royal  approval. 

In  the  spring  of  1760,  nineteen  acts  of  the  Pennsylvania  legisla- 
ture, passed  in  1758  and  1759,  had  accumulated  on  the  table  of  the 
King's  Council  Chamber.  To  several  of  these  acts  no  objection 
was  urged  by  either  side.  Eleven  of  them  were  opposed  by  the 
proprietaries ;  but,  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  there  was  one  leading 


AGED    54.]  RESULT    OF   THE    APPEAL   TO    THE    KIJ7G.  411 

or  representative  act,  which  was  the  true  bone  of  contention.  This 
act  was  entitled,  "  An  Act  for  granting  to  his  Majesty  the  sum  of 
£100,000,  and  for  striking  the  same  in  Bills  of  Credit  in  the  manner 
therein  directed,  and  for  providing  a  Fund  for  Sinking  the  said  Bill 
of  Credit  hy  a  tax  on  all  estates^  real  and  personal,  and  all  taxables 
within  this  Province."  The  Messrs.  Penn,  aided  by  counsel,  strove 
for  the  repeal  of  this  act.  Franklin,  who  was  also  assisted  by  coun- 
sel, maintained  its  justice  and  accordance  with  the  Constitution. 

The  subject  was  referred  to  a  body  styled  *'  The  Right  Honora- 
ble the  Lords  of  Committee  of  his  Majesty's  most  honorable  Privy 
Council  for  Plantation  Affairs."  The  Lords  of  Committee  weie 
the  Earl  of  Halifax,  Soame  Jenkins,  W.  H.  Hamilton,  W.  Sloper, 
and  Edward  Eliot.  After  hearing  counsel  on  both  sides,  these 
gentlemen  prepared  a  report  of  inmaense  length,  and  written  with 
a  degree  of  care  and  perspicuity,  which  shows  that  at  least  the  af- 
fair had  been  most  attentively  considered.  The  report  was  adverse 
to  Franklin  and  the  Assembly.  The  bill  for  granting  £100,000,  and 
taxing  all  estates  equally,  was  pronounced  by  the  Committee  to  be 
"  manifestly  offensive  to  natural  justice,  to  the  laws  of  England,  and 
to  the  royal  prerogative,"  and  "  one  of  the  most  proper  objects  for 
the  exercise  of  his  majesty's  [)Ower  of  repeal  which  has  at  any  time 
been  referred  to  our  consideration."  The  Committee  added  the 
ominous  words,  *'  and  we  humbly  recommend  it  to  be  repealed  ac- 
cordingly."* The  other  money  bills,  on  various  pretenses,  were 
thrown  out.  And  as  if  this  were  not  enough,  the  Lords  of  Com- 
mittee concluded  their  report  with  a  remark,  that  the  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania  claimed  powers  that  were  extraordinary  and  unpre- 
cedented, and  it  was,  therefore,  "particularly  necessary,  by  the 
constitutional  interposition  of  the  crown,  to  restrain  the  power 'of 
the  Assembly  from  becoming  exorbitant  beyond  measure."  Nay, 
more ;  the  Committee  actually  censured  the  proprietaries  for  not 
having  kept  the  Assembly  more  in  check,  and  taken  better  care  of 
their  own  and  the  king's  authority.f 

♦  Minutes  of  the  Provincial  Council  of  Pennsylvania,  viii.,  524. 

t  Thomas  Penn  commented  upon  this  undeserved  reproach:  "The  Lords  of  Trade  have  been 
pleased,  in  a  manner  I  do  not  well  like,  to  censure  us  for  not  attending  so  closely  to  the  proceed- 
ings of  the  Assembly  as  to  prevent  their  encroachments  on  the  prerogative,  and  say  we  look 
xipon  ourselves  as  landholders  only,  which  I  think  is  not  to  be  accounted  for,  when  they  knov,- 
wo  have  been  disputing  with  the  Assembly  for  twenty  years  past  in  support  of  the  prerogative 
of  the  crown.  However,  as  they  have  reported  against  these  laws,  we  must  put  up  with  that, 
an(i  the  more  readily,  as  it  shows  their  disapprobation  of  the  encroachments  and  claims  of  the 
Ks&eixnblyy— Thomas  Penn  to  Governor  Hamilton,  June  27th,  1760. 


412  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [lY60. 

This  was  a  terrible  blow;  for  the  £100,000  had  been  ah*eady 
emitted.  The  repeal  of  the  bill  would  have  caused  extreme  finan- 
cial embarrassment,  and  given  the  proprietaries  a  triumph  that  would 
have  made  them  little  less  than  the  absolute  lords  of  Pennsylvania. 
It  seems,  also,  that  the  Assembly  had  guaranteed  the  late  Govern- 
or against  loss  in  case  the  bill  should  be  repealed.  The  Assembly, 
indeed,  had  relied  too  much  upon  Franklin  and  the  justice  of  their 
cause,  and,  too  late,  perceived  their  error.  "  We  are,  at  present," 
wrote  the  Speaker  to  Franklin  about  this  time,  "  among  rocks  and 
sands,  in  a  stormy  season,  and  it  depends  on  you  to  do  every  thing 
in  your  power  in  the  present  crisis ;  for  it  is  too  late  for  us  to  give 
you  any  assistance.  Had  it  been  in  my  power,  you  should  not  have 
had  so  many  difficulties  to  struggle  with ;  but  the  House  were  of 
another  mind,  as  well  in  our  re-emitting  act,  as  the  bargain  and  en- 
gagements with  Governor  Denny,  for  which  there  was  no  necessity. 
But  possibly  all  may,  under  Providence,  end  better  than  expecta- 
tion." 

The  good  Speaker  would  have  been  alarmed,  indeed,  if  he  had 
read  the  Report  of  the  Lords  of  Committee,  dated  June,  1760. 

Most  colonial  diplomatists  would  have  given  up  the  struggle 
after  perusing  a  Report  so  emphatically  against  their  cause.  Not 
so  Franklin.  He  contrived  to  snatch  from  the  teeth  of  defeat  that 
modern  conveniency,  which  we  call  a  Compromise:  and  a  com- 
promise, too,  that  proved  to  be  equivalent  to  a  victory.  What 
secret  arts  or  artifices  he  employed  on  this  occasion,  or  whether 
any  such  were  employed,  no  existing  record  informs  us.  I  can  re- 
late little  more  than  what  appears  in  the  documents  that  were  de- 
signed for  the  public  eye. 

Upon  reading  this  crushing  Report  in  the  pleasant  month  of 
June,  just  as  he  was  setting  off  for  a  tour  in  Ireland,  Franklin  had 
his  portmanteaus  and  saddle-bags  unpacked,  and  addressed  him- 
self to  the  task  of  getting  the  Report  set  aside,  and  a  better  one 
substituted.  He  ofiered  to  enter  into  an  engagement,  in  the  name 
and  on  behalf  of  the  Assembly  of  Pennsylvania,  to  have  the  ob- 
noxious Act  so  amended  as  to  remove  from  it  all  the  objectionable 
features  enumerated  in  the  Report  of  the  Lords  of  Coinmittee. 
That  is  to  say,  he  engaged  that  an  Act  to  amend  the  Act  should 
be  passed,  which  should  exempt  from  taxation  the  unsurveyed  waste- 
lands of  the  Penn  estate ;  secure  the  asses^^ment  of  the  surveyed 


AGED    54.]      .     RESULT    OF   THE   APPEAL   TO   THE   KING.  418 

waste-lands  of  the  same  estate  at  the  rate  at  which  all  other  prop- 
erty of  the  same  description  was  assessed ;  give  the  Governor 
a  veto  upon  all  grants  of  money  raised  by  the  Act ;  institute  a 
Board  of  Commissioners  to  decide  between  the  tax-gatherer  and 
the  proprietaries  ;  and  leave  the  contracts  between  the  proprie- 
taries and  their  tenants  intact.  He  also  pointed  out  to  the  Lords 
of  Committee  the  calamitous  consequences  to  the  province,  of  a 
repeal  of  an  Act  that  had  already  been  carried  into  execution :  the 
bills  being  emitted  and  in  circulation.  The  Lords  of  Committee 
were  won  by  his  offer  and  his  explanations,  and,  on  the  28th  of 
August,  drew  up  a  second  report,  which  was  extremely  different 
from  that  of  the  previous  June.  This  new  report  declared  the  act 
"  to  be  fundamentally  wrong  and  unjust,  and  ought  to  be  repealed, 
unless'''  it  should  be  amended  in  the  manner  just  explained.  The 
requisite  amendments,  said  the  report,  the  agent  of  the  Assembly 
had  engaged  to  procure.  The  proprietaries,  "  for  the  sake  of 
peace,  and  to  avoid  farther  contest,"  had  agreed  to  consent  t-o  the 
proposed  amendments,  as  great  inconveniences  would  arise  from  the 
repeal  of  the  original  act.  Therefore, ''  the  Lords  of  Committee  are 
humbly  of  opinion"  that  it  would  be  a  great  deal  better  to  let  the 
act  "  stand  unrepealed."     What  a  remarkable  change  of  opinion ! 

This  Report  was  decisive.  On  the  second  of  September  the 
subject  was  brought  before  the  Privy  Council ;  present,  the  king's 
Most  Excellent  Majesty  (George  II.,  then  within  a  few  weeks  of 
his  sudden  death) ;  the  Archbishop  of  Canterbury ;  the  Lord  Presi- 
dent ;  the  Duke  of  Newcastle ;  the  Earl  of  Cholmondoly ;  the  Earl 
of  Halifax ;  Viscount  Falmouth,  Viscount  Burrington,  Lord  Berkly, 
of  Stratton,  and  Lord  Mansfield.  The  Report  was  read,  which  in 
all  probability  soothed  the  aged  king  to  slumber.  We  are,  however, 
assured  by  the  members  of  the  Council,  that  "  His  Majesty  took  the 
said  Report  into  his  royal  consideration,  and  was  pleased,  with  the 
advice  of  his  Privy  Council,  to  approve  of  all  that  is  therein  pro- 
posed to  be  done."  And  thus,  as  Franklin  wrote  to  Lord  Kames,  "  the 
cause  is  at  length  ended,  and,  in  a  great  degree,  to  our  satisfaction."* 

*  Lord  Mansfield  is  supposed  to  liave  been  tlie  eiFective  ally  of  Franklin  in  this  affair.  The 
following  passage  of  a  letter  from  Edmund  Burke  to  the  Marquis  of  Eockinghara,  written  in  Sep- 
tember, 1773,  contains  some  errors,  but  throws  light  upon  Lord  Mansfield's  reasons  for  consenting 
to  let  the  bill  pass :  "  I  remember,"  wrote  Mr.  Burke,  "  with  great  clearness,  a  report  of  the  board 
of  trade,  so  long  ago  as  the  year  1769,  strongly  recommending  the  disallowance  of  a  money  bill  of 


414  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1760. 

Having  been  detained  in  London  all  the  summer  by  this  business, 
he  hastened,  as  soon  it  was  finished,  into  the  country,  visiting  the 
great  tOAvns  in  the  west  of  Enghmd,  Bristol,  Bath,  Liverpool,  and 
others,  and  making  an  excursion  into  Wales.  His  anticipated  tour 
in  Ireland  he  was  compelled  by  the  lateness  of  the  season  to 
postpone. 

The  news  of  his  compromise  must  have  been  received  at  Phila- 
delphia with  something  like  a  chuckle ;  the  acute  persons  among 
the  popular  party  perceiving  their  advantage.  The  Assembly,  when 
it  met  in  December,  received  the  Report  of  their  agent's  success, 
and  of  the  engagement  by  which  that  success  was  procured.  Per- 
haps the  reader  will  not  be  astonished  to  learn  that  this  body 
exhibited  no  alacrity  to  perform  what  Franklin  had  promised  in 
their  name.  It  is  not  unlikely  that  Franklin  conveyed  a  hint  to  the 
liberal  side  of  the  House  that  no  haste  was  necessary.  Many  weeks 
of  the  session  passed  without  any  motion  on  the  subject.  The 
Governor,  as  the  session  was  drawing  to  a  close,  sent  a  special 
message  to  the  House,  reminding  them  of  their  neglect.  Still 
nothing  was  done.  Governor  Hamilton  sent  a  second  and  more 
urgent  message ;  on  the  receipt  of  which  the  House  appointed  a 
committee  to  consider  the  matter  and  report  to  the  House.  The 
committee  took  plenty  of  time  for  consideration,  and  then  presented 
to  the  House  a  very  short  Report,  in  five  sections,  to  the  following 
effect:  1.  No  unsurveyed  waste-lands  of  the  Penn  estate  have  ever 
been  taxed  ;  2.  Ko  surveyed  waste-lands  of  the  Penn  estate  have 
ever  been  assessed  at  a  higher  rate  than  other  people's ;  3.  All  the 
proprietary  lands  are  rated  fairly;  4.  The  annual  tax  upon  the 
Penn  estate  is  five  hundred  and  sixty-six  pounds  four  shillings  and 

the  province  of  Pennsylvania,  as  being  made  in  direct  opposition  to  all  the  colony  instructions,  to 
the  prerogatives  of  the  crown,  and  to  the  dependence  of  the  province.  By  disallowing  this  Mil 
goverment  would  have  lod.for  sorm  time,  a  loan  o/about  100,000  currency.  When  this  report 
came  to  be  heard  before  the  council,  your  lordship's  very  learned  friend  (Lord  Mansfield)  approved 
exceedingly  of  the  arguments  of  the  attorney-general  (Sir  Charles  Pratt,  afterwards  Lord  Camden) 
pressing  the  rejection  of  the  bill.  However,  rather  than  government  should  be  disappointed  in 
this  small  supply,  he  allowed  the  bill  with  all  its  imperfections  on  its  head.  All  that  he  did 
was,  in  the  face  of  the  world,  to  attempt  a  negotiation  with  Mr.  Franklin,  agent  for  the  colony, 
that  another  bill  should  be  passed  in  the  following  year,  but  free  from  the  objectionable  parts,  to 
the  same  purpose.  Franklin  said  he  had  no  authority  to  make  such  terms.  He  only  promised 
to  transmit  his  lordship's  recommendation.  The  act  p.assed,  and  nothing  further  was  ever  heard 
of  the  terms  proposed.  From  these  and  many  other  instances,  I  conclude  that  this  able  man  is 
more  anxious  in  general  for  the  temporary  accommodation  than  the  permanent  credit  of  govera- 
ment."— FbTifcs  and  Corresjiondenoe  of  the  Bi.  Hon.  Edmvnd  Burke,  i.,  220. 


AGED    54.]  RESULT    OF   THE   APPEAL  TO  THE   KING.  415 

tenpence,  about  one-fiftieth  of  the  whole  sum  raised  by  taxation ; 
5.  No  injustice  of  any  kind  has  been  done  the  proprietaries  in  the 
matter  of  taxation. 

These  five  propositions  having  been  stated,  the  Report  abruptly 
closed,  without  so  much  as  suggesting  the  natural  inference,  which 
was  this : — These  things  being  true,  there  is  nothing  to  amend  in 
the  Act,  and  the  engagement  of  our  agent  was  a  royally  sanctioned 
ruse  to  save  the  province  from  the  calamity  of  its  repeal.  The  House 
received  the  Report,  we  may  presume,  with  becoming  gravity;  it  is 
certain  they  adjourned  without  further  troubling  themselves  about 
the  matter.  At  the  next  session,  Governor  Hamilton,  in  a  message 
of  unusual  length,  informed  the  House  that  he  had  been  ordered  by 
tlie  proprietaries  to  urge  upon  them  the  duty  of  fulfilling  the  sol- 
emn stipulations  of  their  agent.  Still,  the  House  never  found  time 
to  frame  the  act  required.  Time  passed ;  the  Governor  sent  other 
messages ;  but  the  House  could  never  be  prevailed  upon  to  amend  an 
act  which  required  no  amendment,  or  to  concern  themselves  with 
stipulations  which  were  fulfilled  by  the  ordinary  and  inevitable 
working  of  the  original  act.  Franklin's  stipulations  gave  those 
distrustful  Penns  nothing  which  the  assessors  had  not  given  them 
ever  since  their  estates  had  been  taxed. 

And  thus  it  was  that  Franklin's  compromise  was  equivalent  to 
a  victory.  Besides  saving  Pennsylvania  from  the  financial  embar- 
rassments which  would  have  resulted  from  the  repeal  of  a  money 
bill  that  had  been  a  year  in  operation,  he  established  the  principle 
that  the  proprietary  estates  were  to  contribute  their  just  proportion 
of  the  public  revenue.  His  success  also  notified  the  Messrs.  Penn 
that  their  instructions  were  not  the  supreme  law  of  Pennsylvania, 
and  that  even  in  the  council  chamber  of  the  king  other  rights  than 
those  of  prerogative  could  sometimes  find  protection.  The  Penns 
continued  to  vex  the  province  down  to  the  time  of  the  revolution, 
and  then  made  a  very  good  bargain  by  the  sale  of  their  chartered 
rights.  ISTevertheless,  there  was  a  hmit  to  their  misgovernment 
after  the  decision  of  the  Privy  Council  in  1760. 

It  must  not  be  supposed  that  Franklin's  conduct  in  England  was 
universally  approved  in  Pennsylvania.  It  was  heartily  approved  by 
his  own  party,  which  was  a  majority  of  the  people  of  the  province. 
But  there  are  reasons  for  concluding  that  the  proprietary  party 


416  LIFE   AND  TIMES   OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1760. 

gained  both  in  numbers  and  in  confidence  during  his  absence  from 
home.  He  was  assailed,  it  seems,  in  many  a  paragraph  and  pam- 
phlet ;  so  that  Mrs.  Franklin,  being  accustomed  to  hearing  her  hus- 
band praised,  was  amazed  and  pained,  and  wrote *to  him  in  some 
alarm.  He  reassured  her  in  his  simple,  homely  way :  "  I  am  con- 
cerned that  so  much  trouble  should  be  given  you  by  idle  reports 
concerning  me.  Be  satisfied,  my  dear,  that  while  I  have  my  senses, 
and  God  vouchsafes  me  his  protection,  I  shall  do  nothing  unworthy 
the  character  of  an  honest  man,  and  one  that  loves  his  family." 
And,  in  another  letter :  "  Let  no  one  make  you  uneasy  with  their 
idle  or  malicious  scribblings,  but  enjoy  yourself  and  friends,  and  the 
comforts  of  life,  that  God  has  bestowed  on  you,  with  a  cheerful 
heart.  I  am  glad  their  pamphlets  give  you  so  little  concern.  I 
make  no  other  answer  to  them  at  present,  than  what  appears  in  the 
seal  of  this  letter  ;" — a  dove  on  a  coiled  serpent,  with  the  motto, 
Innocence  sumiont  tout. 

These  words  were,  doubtless,  consoling  to  the  lady,  who  was 
much  cast  down  at  her  husband's  long  absence.  The  chief  object 
of  his  mission  having  been  attained,  she  expected  him  home  before 
the  year  ended.  Other  Pennsylvanian  business,  however,  detained 
him  in  London  till  the  winter  set  in,  and  in  winter  no  one,  at  that 
period,  put  to  sea  who  could  conveniently  remain  on  shore.  The 
year  following,  public  and  private  business  still  kept  him  busy  i^n 
England ;  so  that  two  more  years  were  to  elapse  before  the  family 
was  reunited.  The  affairs  of  his  agency  need  not,  I  think,  occupy 
the  reader's  further  attention ;  for,  though  not  unimportant  at  the 
time,  they  have  no  interest  for  us  now.  But,  during  the  last  years 
of  his  residence  in  England,  Franklin  did  some  things  for  the  Brit- 
ish empire,  and  for  mankind,  which  must  not  be  passed  by  without 
notice. 


AGED    54.]        STUDIES   AND   PUBLICATIONS   IN    ENGLAND.  417 

CHAPTER  VIII. 

STUDIES   AND   PUBLICATIONS   IN   ENGLAND. 

The  dividing  year  between  old  England  and  modern  England  is 
1760.  On  the  twenty-fifth  of  October,  of  that  year,  old  George  II. 
fell  dying  in  his  closet,  and  his  grandson,  George  III.,  with  unpre- 
cedented eclat,  ascended  the  throne.  This  ignorant,  moody,  well- 
intentioned  young  man  was  to  be  "  the  retarding  person"  in  the 
history  of  the  time.  Directly  through  him  the  British  empire  was 
to  be  dismembered,  the  national  expenditures  increased  seven- 
fold, and  a  national  debt  created  that  remains  the  wonder  of  the 
world.  But  the  gods,  if  I  may  use  that  heathen  word,  love  Eng- 
land, though  man  loves  her  not.  So,  in  this  very  year,  a  poor 
mathematical  instrument  maker  in  Edinburgh,  Watt  by  name,  be- 
gan to  experiment  upon  the  steam  engine,  and  Arkwright  forsook 
his  barber's  shop  and  entered  upon  a  wandering  way  of  life  (buying 
up  hair  for  the  wigmakers),  which  led  him  ere  long  to  become  the 
improver  of  cotton  spinning  machinery.  And  these  two  men  pro- 
vided for  the  English  exchequer  the  countless  millions  which  were 
squandered  in  consequence  of  the  ignorance  of  George  III. 

There  is  a  provision  in  nature,  says  Goethe,  for  preventing  trees 
from  growing  up  into  the  sky.  George  III.  performed  this  office 
for  that  brave  old  oak,  the  realm  of  Britain.  The  student  of  this 
period  cannot  but  amuse  himself  sometimes  by  fancying  what 
might  have  been,  if  this  unhappy  young  king  had  chanced  to  be  an 
able  and  enlightened  person.  Suppose,  for  example,  that  Benjamin 
I.,  with  his  massive  understanding,  his  great  knowledge,  his  noble 
prudence,  his  openness  to  conviction,  his  good  heart,  his  gracious 
presence,  had  come  to  the  throne  of  England  in  October,  1760! 
He  would  not  have  exchanged  a  Pitt  for  a  Bute,  I  think.  There  had 
been  no  George  Grenville  at  the  head  of  the  cabinet ;  no  stamp  act; 
no  American  Revolution,  probably,  in  that  century ;  no  French 
Revolution  ;  and,  perhaps,  no  need  of  one.  From  Manhattan 
Island,  instead  of  the  banks  of  the  Thames,  Englishmen  might  at 
this  moment  be  ruling  half  the  world.  But  there  is  a  provision  in  na- 
ture for  preventing  trees  from  growing  up  into  the  sky.  And,  there- 
fore, appeared  George  III,  at  the  nick  of  time,  to  call  off  Mr.  Pitt, 
18* 


418  tlPE  AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1760. 

just  as  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  permanently  humble  the  House  of 
Bourbon,  and  make  England  and  her  protestant  allies  supreme  in 
Europe. 

King  though  he  was  not,  nor  minister,  we  can  now  perceive  that 
Benjamin  Franklin  was  the  man  then  living  who  had  the  clearest 
comprehension  of  the  state  of  things,  and  the  most  correct  view  of 
the  true  policy  of  England.  He  had  the  prodigious  advantage  of 
being  an  Englishman  without  being  an  Islander.  His  mind  had 
something  of  the  breadth,  fertility,  and  clear  atmosphere  of  his  na- 
tive continent,  without  having  lost  the  practical  sense  of  the  British 
man  of  detail.  He  considered  well  the  questions  of  the  day,  and  in 
the  decision  of  some  of  them  he  exerted  an  influence  that,  perhaps, 
was  preponderating. 

In  the  Annual  Register  for  this  year,  I  find  part  of  Franklin's 
essay  on  the  Peopling  of  Countries,  which  was  written  before  he 
left  America.  It  was,  probably,  inserted  in  the  Register  by  Ed- 
mund Burke,  the  editor  of  that  work,  who  headed  it,  "Extract 
from  a  Piece  written  in  Pennsylvania."  The  object  of  this  essay 
— incredible  to  relate ! — was  to  remove  the  prevalent  impression 
that  the  growth  of  the  American  colonies  tended  to  impoverish 
England.  Most  Englishmen  at  that  day  appear  to  have  believed, 
that  the  people  and  the  wealth  of  the  colonies  were  so  much  drawn 
from  the  mother  country ;  and,  as  a  too  vigorous  progeny  some- 
times exhausts  a  mother,  so,  it  was  feared,  these  hungry  young  colo- 
nies would  at  last  drain  their  aged  parent ;  reducing  her,  at  once, 
to  decrepitude  and  poverty.  Franklin  combated  this  astonishing 
delusion  by  arguments  which  Adam  Smith  has  since  made  familiar 
to  the  Avorld.  Indeed,  there  can  be  no  doubt  that  the  author  of 
the  Wealth  of  Nations  read  this  pamphlet  before  he  wrote  the  first 
book  of  his  great  work,  which  contains  very  numerous  allusions  to 
the  North  American  colonies. 

"  There  is,"  said  Franklin,  "  no  bound  to  the  prolific  nature  of 
plants  or  animals,  but  what  is  made  by  their  crowding  and  inter- 
fering with  each  other's  means  of  subsistence.  Were  the  face  of 
the  earth  vacant  of  other  plants,  it  might  be  gradually  sowed  and 
overspread  with  one  kind  only,  as,  for  instance,  with  fennel ;  and, 
were  it  empty  of  other  inhabitants,  it  might  in  a  few  ages  be  re- 
plenished from  one  nation  only,  as,  for  instance,  with  Englishmen. 
Thus,  there  are  supposed  to  be  now  upwards  of  one  million  English 


AGED   54.]       STUDIES    AND   PUBLICATION'S  IN  ENGLAND.  419 

souls  in  North  America  (though  it  is  thought  scarce' eighty  thou- 
sand has  been  brought  over  sea),  and  yet  perhaps  there  is  not  one 
the  fewer  in  Britain,  but  rather  many  more,  on  account  of  the  em- 
ployment the  colonies  afford  to  manufacturers  at  home.  This  mil- 
lion doubling,  suppose  but  once  in  twenty-five  years,  will,  in  an- 
other century,  be  more  than  the  people  of  England,  and  the  great- 
est number  of  Englishmen  will  be  on  this  side  the  water.  What 
an  accession  of  power  to  the  British  empire  by  sea  as  well  as  land  !" 

Franklin's  conjecture  that  the  population  of  the  colonies  would 
double  every  twenty-five  years,  was  very  happy,  for  it  has  held  true 
down  to  the  census  of  1860.     Adam  Smith  adopts  the  conjecture.* 

The  passages  of  this  pamphlet  which  arrest  the  eye  of  the  recent 
reader,  are  those  in  which  the  author,  in  a  few  sentences,  exhausts 
the  argument  against  African  slavery.  A  hundred  years  of  discus- 
sion have  added  little  to  his  summary  of  the  withering  eflects 
of  that  hideous  crime  against  nature.  He  saw  in  1760,  as  clearly 
as  we  see  in  1860,  that  the  true  victim  of  slavery  is  the  master, 
whom  it  enervates,  diminishes,  and  savagizes — not  the  slave,  whom 
it  tortures,  but  holds  for  final  deliverance  and  civilization.  The 
black  man  appears  slowly  to  improve  under  slavery.  The  white 
master  seems  generally  to  lose,  in  three  or  four  generations,  every 
redeeming  trait  of  human  nature. 

After  the  accession  of  the  young  monarch,  a  clamor  arose  in  the 
kingdom  for  peace ;  a  clamor  not  unpleasing  to  the  new  courtiers. 
Franklin  was  a  Pittite.  He  was  for  a  vigorous  prosecution  of  the 
war  until  the  enemy  should  be  disposed  to  make  a  peace  that  could 
be  reasonably  expected  to  last.  To  impair  the  effect  of  the  pam- 
phlets, sermons,  and  articles  which  favored  an  immediate  peace  at 
almost  any  price,  he  wrote  what  purported  to  be  a  chapter  from 
an  old  book,  which  he  said  was  written  by  a  Spanish  Jesuit,  and 
addressed  to  an  ancient  king  of  Spain.  The  chapter  was  entitled, 
"  On  the  Means  of  Disposing  the  Enemy  to  Peace."  The  imagin- 
ary Jesuit  advises  his  king  to  spend  a  few  doubloons  in  changing 
the  minds  of  his  enemies  by  corrupting  their  authors,  editors,  and 
preachers.     The  English  people,  he  intimates,  "though  bardie  of 

*  "  In  Great  Britain,  and  most  other  European  countries,  the  inhabitants  are  not  supposed  to 
double  in  less  than  five  hundred  years.  In  the  British  colonies  in  North  America,  it  has  been 
found,  that  they  double  in  twenty  or  five  and  twenty  years."— IFeaZ^A  ofJSFations^  book  1,  chap- 
ter viii. 


420  IJIFB    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l761. 

bodie,  and  bold  in  fight,  be  nevertheless,  through  over  much  eating 
and  other  intemperance,  slow  of  wit,  and  dull  in  understanding," 
and  therefore  easily  deceived.  "  In  England,"  he  continues, 
"there  are  not  wanting  Menne  of  Learning,  ingenious  Speakers 
and  Writers,  who  are  nevertheless  in  lowe  Estate,  and  pinched  by 
Fortune.  These,  being  privately  gained  by  proper  Meanes,  must 
be  instructed  in  their  Sermons,  Discourses,  Writings,  Poems,  and 
Songs,  to  handle  and  specially  inculcate  Points  like  these  which 
folio  we.  Let  them  magnifie  the  Blessings  of  Peace,  and  enlarge 
mightilie  thereon,  which  is  not  unbecoming  grave  Divines  and 
other  Christian  Menne.  Let  them  expatiate  on  the  Miseries  of 
Warre,  the  Waste  of  Christian  Blood,  the  growing  Scarcitie  of 
Labourers  and  Workmen,  the  Dearness  of  all  foreign  Wares  and 
Merchandise,  the  Interruption  of  Commerce,  the  Captures  of  Ships, 
the  Increase  and  great  Burthen  of  Taxes." 

He  proceeds  to  state  all  the  arguments  used  by  the  writers  of 
the  day  who  opposed  the  continuance  of  the  war.  "  The  result 
will  be,"  concludes  the  Jesuit,  "  that  all  those  who  be  timerous  by 
Nature,  amongste  whom  be  reckoned  Menne  of  Learning  that  lead 
sedentarie  Lives,  doing  little  Exercise  of  Bodie,  and  thence  obtain- 
ing but  few  and  weake  Spirits;  great  Statesmen,  whose  natural 
Spirits  be  exhausted  by  much  Thinking,  or  depressed  by  overmuch 
Feasting ;  together  with  all  Women,  whose  Power,  weake  as  they 
are,  is  not  a  little  amongste  the  Menne;  these  shall  incessantly 
speake  for  Peace.  And  finally,  all  Courtiers,  who  suppose  they 
conforme  thereby  to  the  Inclinations  of  the  Prince  ;  all  who  are  in 
Places,  fear  to  lose  them,  or  hope  for  better ;  all  who  are  out  of 
Places,  and  hope  to  obtaine  them ;  with  all  the  worldly-minded 
Clergy,  who  seeke  Preferment ;  these,  with  all  the  Weighte  of 
their  Character  and  Influence,  shall  join  the  crie  for  Peace ;  till  it 
becomes  one  universal  Clamor,  and  no  Sound  but  that  of  Peace, 
Peace,  Peace,  shall  be  heard  from  every  Quarter." 

This  ingenious  production  was  published  in  the  Morning  Chron- 
icle^ and  was  signed  "  A  Briton."  Nothing  could  be  better  adapted 
to  its  purpose.  And  though  there  are  weighty  objections  to  this 
mode  of  political  warfare,  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  it  was  then 
a  universal  opinion  that  the  enemies  of  England  did  expend  gold 
in  corrupting  influential  persons.  In  this  very  chapter,  the  Jesuit 
remarks  :  "  I  shall  say  little  of  the  Power  of  Money  secretly  dis- 


AGED    55.]      STUDIES    AND   PUBLICATIOXS   IN    ENGLAND.  421 

tributed  among  Grandees,  or  their  Friends  or  Paramours ;  that 
Method  being  in  all  Ages  known  and  practised."  It  is  possible 
that  some  pamphleteers  and  editors  may  really  have  been  hired  to 
advocate  peace  by  French  gold,  and  many  of  them  certninly  were 
by  English.  A  political  writer  who  wrote  from  disinterested  con- 
victions, was  a  rarity  at  that  period :  and,  therefore,  I  suppose  we 
must  accept  Franklin's  Chapter  as  a  fair  hit. 

A  work  more  extensive,  and  worthier  of  his  powers,  was  pub- 
lished by  Dr.  Franklin  soon  after  the  capture  of  Quebec.  It  be- 
came a  question  which  of  the  late  acquisitions  should  be  retained, 
at  the  conclusion  of  peace,  Canada,  or  the  Sugar  Islands  of  Guada- 
loupe  ;  those  two  islands  having  an  area  of  five  hundred  and  thirty- 
four  square  miles,  and  producing  annually  three  hundred  thousand 
pounds'  worth  of  sugar.  In  this  controversy  the  Earl  of  Bath  and 
one  of  the  Burkes  ("William)  took  part ;  the  Earl  arguing  for  Can- 
ada, and  Mr.  Burke  for  Guadaloupe.  Franklin  wrote  a  voluminous 
pamphlet  on  the  subject,  entitled  "  The  Interests  of  Great  Britain 
Considered,  with  regard  to  her  Colonies,  and  the  acquisitions  of 
Canada  and  Guadaloupe."  He  showed,  that  while  Canada  remain- 
ed French,  the  English  colonies  of  North  America  could  never  be 
safe,  nor  peace  in  Europe  permanent.  His  arguments  will  occur  to 
every  reader,  and  need  not  be  repeated.  We  moderns,  who  know 
the  value  and  magnificent  capabilities  of  Canada,  can  only  marvel  that 
it  could  ever  have  been  put  into  comparison  with  any  sugar  island, 
or  all  the  sugar  islands.  There  is,  however,  a  point  or  two  in  this 
pamphlet,  which  will  reward  the  reader's  attention  for  a  moment. 

To  appreciate  its  courteous  opening  paragraph,  one  must  have 
been  immersed,  for  some  time,  in  the  acrimonious  controversies  of 
the  first  years  of  George  IH.  It  will  sufiice,  if  the  reader  turns  over 
a  volume  of  that  shallow  and  brutal  calumniator,  "Junius." 
Franklin  began  his  pamphlet  thus :  "  I  have  perused,  with  no  small 
pleasure,  the  Letter  Addressed  to  Two  Great  Men''''  (by  the  Earl 
of  Bath),  and  the  ''  BemarJcs  on  that  letter"  (by  Mr.  W.  Burke). 
"  It  is  not  merely  from  the  beauty,  the  force,  and  perspicuity  of  ex- 
pression, or  the  general  elegance  of  manner,  conspicuous  in  both 
pamphlets,  that  my  pleasure  chiefly  arises  ;  it  is  rather  from  this, 
that  I  have  lived  to  see  subjects  of  the  greatest  importance  to  this 
nation,  publicly  discussed  without  party  views  or  party  heat,  with 
decency  and  politeness,  and  with  no  other  warmth  than  what  a  zeal 


b 


42^  LIFE    AXD   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1761. 

for  the  honor  and  happiness  of  our  king  and  country  may  inspire ; 
and  this  by  writers,  whose  understanding,  however  they  may  differ 
from  each  other,  appears  not  unequal  to  their  candor  and  the  up- 
rightness of  their  intention.  *  *  ^'  Light  often  arises  from  a  col- 
lision of  opinion?,  as  fire  from  flint  and  steel ;  and  if  we  can  obtain 
the  benefit  of  the  lights  without  danger  from  the  heat  sometimes 
produced  by  controversy,  why  should  we  discourage  it  ?" 

In  this  production,  he  again  expended  a  vast  amount  of  reason- 
ing, .to  prove  that  the  American  Colonies  were  not  injurious  nor 
dangerous  to  the  mother  country.  "England,"  he  said,  "might 
quiet  her  fears  that  the  colonies  should  take  to  manufacturing. 
Manufactures  are  founded  in  poverty.  It  is  the  multitude  of  poor 
without  land  in  a  country,  and  who  must  work  for  others  at  low 
wages  or  starve,  that  enables  undertakers  to  carry  on  a  manufac- 
ture, and  afford  it  cheap  enough  to  prevent  the  importation  of  the 
same  kind  from  abroad,  and  to  bear  the  expense  of  its  own  export- 
ation. But  no  man  who  can  have  a  piece  of  land  of  his  own  suf- 
ficient by  his  labor  to  subsist  his  family  in  plenty,  is  poor  enough 
to  be  a  manufacturer  and  work  for  a  master.  Hence,  while  there  is 
land  enough  in  America  for  our  people,  there  can  never  be  manu- 
factures to  any  amount  or  value." 

And  with  regard  to  the  alleged  danger  of  the  colonies  uniting  to 
rebel  against  the  mother  country,  he  declared  such  a  union  to  be 
impossible.  But  he  added  :  "  When  I  say  such  a  union  is  impos- 
sible, I  mean,  without  the  most  grievous  tyranny  and  oppression. 
People  who  have  property  in  a  country,  which  they  may  lose,  and 
privileges  which  they  may  endanger,  are  generally  disposed  to  be 
quiet,  and  even  to  bear  much  rather  than  hazard  all.  While  the 
government  is  mild  and  just,  while  important  civ;l  and  religious 
rights  are  secure,  such  subjects  will  be  dutiful  and  obedient.  The 
waves  do  not  rise  hut  when  the  winds  blow.  What  such  an  admin- 
istration as  the  Duke  of  Alva's  in  the  Netherlands  might  produce, 
I  know  not ;  but  this,  I  think,  I  have  a  right  to  deem  impossible." 

The  highest  praise  can  justly  be  awarded  to  this  pamphlet.  It  is 
courteous,  spirited,  and  right,  and  contains  political  truths  much  in 
advance  of  the  time.  Tradition  reports  that  it  influenced  the  min- 
istry in  deciding  to  keep  Canada.  Some  have  gone  so  far  as  to  say, 
that  England  owes  that  inestimable  possession  to  Franklin,  who 
first  advocated  its  conquest,  and  then  urged  its  retention.    Mr. 


AGED    55.]        STUDIES   AND   PUBLICATIONS    IN   ENGLAND.  423 

Burke,  in  his  reply,  was  not  less  courteous  to  his  anonymous  oppo- 
nent, than  Franklin  had  been  to  him.  "  He  is  clearly,"  said  Burke, 
"the  ablest,  the  most  ingenious,  the  most  dexterous  writer  on  that 
side,  and  we  may  therefore  conclude  that  he  has  said  every  thing, 
and  every  thing  in  the  best  manner,  that  the  cause  could  bear." 

It  was  one  of  Franklin's  most  cherished  opinions,  that  the  great- 
ness of  England  and  the  happiness  of  America  depended  chiefly 
upon  their  being  cordially  united.  The  "  country"  which  Franklin 
loved  was  not  England,  nor  x^merrca^lSut  the  great  and  glorious 
Empire  which  these  two  united  to  form.  "I  have  long  been 
or~oprhion,"  he  wrote  to  Lord  Kames,  "that  the  foundatio7is  of 
the  future  grandeur  and  stability  of  the  British  empire  lie  i7i 
America  y  and  though,  like  other  foundations,  they  are  low  and 
little  now,  they  are,  nevertheless,  broad  and  strong  enough  to  sup- 
port the  greatest  political  structure  that  human  wisdom  ever  yet 
erected.  I  am,  therefore,  by  no  means  for  restoring  Canada.  If 
we  keep  it,  all  the  country  from  the  St.  Lawrence  to  the  Missis- 
sippi will  in  another  century  be  filled  with  British  people.  Britain 
itself  will  become  vastly  more  populous  by  the  immense  increase 
of  its  commerce ;  the  Atlantic  sea  will  be  covered  with  your  tra- 
ding ships ;  arid  your  naval  power,  thence  continually  increasing, 
will  extend  your  influence  round  the  whole  globe,  and  awe  the 
world." 

These  were  not  cold  convictions  of  the  understanding.  Franklia 
reveled  in  the  anticipations  of  the  future  glories  and  happiness  of 
his  England,  and  her  mighty  progeny.  He  repelled  with  indigna- 
Hon  the  English  insinuations,  that  the  zeal  of  the  colonies  in  the 
prosecution  of  the  war  was  the  result  of  interested  calculation. 
The  colonists  had  fought,  he  maintained,  more  as  Englishmen  than 
as  colonists ;  more  for  king  and  country  than  for  the  safety  of  their 
own  homes,  and  the  enlargement  of  their  own  borders.  "  Those,'' 
said  he,  "  who  would  be  thought  deeply  skilled  in  human  nature 
affect  to  discover  self-interested  views  everywhere,  at  the  bottom 
of  the  fairest,  the  most  generous  conduct.  Suspicions  and  charges 
of  this  kind  meet  with  ready  reception  and  belief  in  the  minds  even 
of  the  multitude,  and  therefore  less  acuteness  and  address  than  the 
remarker  is  possessed  of  would  be  sufiicient  to  persuade  the  nation 
generally,  that  all  the  zeal  and  spirit  manifested  and  exerted  by  "the 
colonies  in  this  war,  was  only  in  '  their  own  cause,'  to  '  make  con- 


424  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [lV61. 

quest  for  themselves,'  to  engage  us  to  make  more  for  them,  to 
gratify  their  own  '  vain  ambition.'  " 

From  which  we  may  infer  that  England  interpreted  America  as 
unworthily  inl761asinl861. 

A  work  more  important  than  the  pamphlet  upon  Canada  was 
projected  by  Franklin,  was  never  so  much  as  begun.  He  gave  a 
particular  account  of  his  plan  and  design  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Lord 
Karnes. 

"  I  purpose,"  he  wrote,  *'  a  little  work  for  the  benefit  of  youth,  to 
be  called  The  Art  of  Yirtue.  From  the  title  I  think  you  will 
hardly  conjecture  what  the  nature  of  such  a  book  may  be.  I  must 
therefore  explain  it  a  little.  Many  people  lead  bad  lives  that  would 
gladly  lead  good  ones,  but  do  not  know  how  to  make  the  change. 
They  have  frequently  resolved  and  endeavored  it ;  but  in  vain,  be- 
cause their  endeavors  have  not  been  properly  conducted.  To  expect 
people  to  be  good,  to  be  just,  to  be  temperate,  without  showing 
them  how  they  should  become  so,  seems  like  the  ineffectual  charity 
mentioned  by  the  Apostle,  which  consisted  in  saying  to  the  hungry, 
the  cold,  and  the  naked,  '  Be  ye  fed,  be  ye  warmed,  be  ye  clothed,' 
without  showing  them  how  they  should  get  food,  fire,  or  clothing. 

"  Most  people  have  naturally  some  virtues,  but  none  have  naturally 
all  the  virtues.  To  acquire  those  that  are  wanting,  and  secure 
what  we  acquire,  as  well  as  those  we  have  naturally,  is  the  subject 
of  an  art.  It  is  as  properly  an  art  as  painting,  navigation,  or  ar- 
chitecture. If  a  man  would  become  a  painter,  navigator,  or  ar- 
chitect, it  is  not  enough  that  he  is  advised  to  be  one,  that  he  is  coiv- 
vi7iced  by  the  arguments  of  his  adviser  that  it  would  be  for  his  ad- 
vantage to  be  one,  and  that  he  resolves  to  be  one,  but  he  must  also 
be  taught  the  principles  of  the  art,  be  shown  all  the  methods  of 
working,  and  how  to  acquire  the  habits  of  using  properly  all  the 
instruments ;  and  thus  regularly  and  gradually  he  arrives,  by  practice, 
at  some  perfection  in  the  art.  If  he  does  not  proceed  thus,  he  is 
apt  to  meet  with  difficulties  that  discourage  him,  and  make  him 
drop  the  pursuit. 

'■''Islj  Artof  "RV^z^e  has  also  its  instruments,  and  teaches  the  man- 
ner of  using  them.  Christians  are  directed  to  have  faith  in  Christ, 
as  the  effectual  means  of  obtaining  the  change  they  desire.  It  may, 
when  sufficiently  strong,  be  effectual  with  many ;  for  a  full  opinion 
that  a  teacher  is  infinitely  wise,  good,  and  powerful,  and  that  he 


AGED    55.]       STUDIES   AND    PUBLICATIONS   IN    ENGLAND.  425 

will  certainly  reward  and  punish  the  obedient  and  disobedient,  must 
give  great  weight  to  his  precepts,  and  make  them  much  more  at- 
tended to  by  his  disciples.  But  many  have  this  faith  in  so  weak  a 
degree,  that  it  does  not  produce  the  effect.  Our  Art  of  Virtue 
may,  therefore,  be  of  great  service  to  those  whose  faith  is  unhappily 
not  so  strong,  and  may  come  in  aid  of  its  weakness.  Such  as  are 
naturally  Avell  disposed,  and  have  been  so  carefully  educated,  as  that 
good  habits  have  been  early  established,  and  bad  ones  prevented, 
have  less  need  of  this  art ;  but  all  may  be  more  or  less  benefited  by 
it.     It  is,  in  short,  to  be  adapted  for  universal  use." 

It  was  the  intention  of  Dr.  Franklin  to  proceed  immediately  to 
the  execution  of  this  treatise.  But  this  had  been  his  intention  ever 
since  the  year  1732,  and  it  continued  to  be  his  intention  almost 
down  to  1790.  Public  business,  and  a  growing  aversion  to  the  use 
of  that  instrument  of  torture,  the  pen,  kept  him  from  sitting  down 
to  so  arduous  a  task. 

He  was  the  occasion,  however,  of  a  much  more  voluminous  work 
than  his  Art  of  Virtue  would  have  been.  Dr.  Priestley,  then  a 
schoolmaster  at  Warrington,  fond  of  natural  science,  had  recently 
entertained  his  pupils  with  the  new  wonders  of  the  electrical  ma- 
chine. He  was  in  the  habit  of  coming  to  London  once  a  year,  and 
spending  a  month  there  among  his  learned  friends.  In  1761  he 
sought  the  acquaintance  of  Dr.  Franklin,  with  whom  he  soon  be- 
came intimate,  and  remained  his  warm  friend  for  thirty  years. 
Priestley,  who  had  already  had  some  success  in  the  trade  of  book- 
making,  conceived  the  idea  of  turning  to  account  the  universal  in- 
terest then  felt  in  electricity.  He  offered  to  write  a  history  of  elec- 
tricity, if  Dr.  Franklin  would  supply  him  with  the  requisite  books 
and  information.  Franklin  agreed  to  the  proposal,  and  within 
twelve  months  received  from  his  industrious  friend  a  printed  copy 
in  quarto  of  the  work,  in  which  for  the  first  time  was  published  the 
story  of  the  kite  experiment.*  It  was  an  unusually  successful  pub- 
lication for  that  period — three  editions  in  nine  years,  boasts  the 
author's  son  and  biographer. 

Politician  as  Franklin  had  become,  science  was  then,  and  al- 
ways, his  beloved  pursuit.  His  letters  of  this  period  show  the  in- 
terest he  felt,  not  in  electricity  only,  but  in  all  scientific  inquiries. 
He  made,  at  this  time,  many  experiments  with  heat  and  the  con- 

*  Life  of  Joseph  Priestley,  i,  50. 


420  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FEANKLIN.  [l761. 

ductors  of  heat;  reflecting  much  upon  the  cause  and  laws  of  animal 
heat,  and  why  woolen  clothes  are  warmer  than  those  of  hnen,  and 
Avhat  is  the  cause  and  office  of  perspiration.  Many  of  his  experi- 
ments and  conclusions  on  this  class  of  subjects,  novel  as  they  were 
then,  are  now  familiar  to  schoolboys.  At  that  time,  the  reader 
must  know,  to  possess  a  thermometer  was  itself  a  distinction ;  and 
much  which  the  thermometer  has  revealed  to  us  was  unknown  or 
new.  A  hundred  years  ago,  there  were  not,  I  suppose,  twelve 
thermometers  on  the  whole  continent  of  America..  The  instrument 
had  been  invented  about  the  year  1600,  but  it  was  not  until  about 
1730  that  Fahrenheit  and  Reaumur  improved  it  into  something 
like  its  present  utility.  It  was  an  invention  of  the  first  importance, 
and  no  one  used  it  more  diligently  in  those  early  years  of  its  exist- 
ence than  Franklin. 

One  of  his  heat  experiments  was  thus  described  by  himself  in  a 
letter  to  his  young  and  lovely  friend.  Miss  Stevenson :  "  I  took  a 
number  of  little  square  pieces  of  broad  cloth  from  a  tailor's  pattern- 
card,  of  various  colors.  There  were  black,  deep  blue,  lighter  blue, 
green,  purple,  red,  yellow,  white,  and  other  colors,  or  shades  of 
colors.  I  laid  them  all  out  upon  the  snow  in  a  bright  sunshiny 
morning.  In  a  few  hours  (I  cannot  now  be  exact  as  to  t?ie  time), 
the  black,  being  warmed  most  by  the  sun,  was  sunk  so  low  as  to  be 
below  the  stroke  of  the  sun's  rays ;  the  dark  blue  almost  as  low, 
the  lighter  blue  not  quite  so  much  as  the  dark,  the  other  colors  less 
as  they  w^ere  lighter ;  and  the  quite  white  remained  on  the  surface 
of  the  snow,  not  having  entered  it  at  all.  What  signifies  philos- 
ophy that  does  not  apply  to  some  use?  May  we  not  learn  from 
hence,  that  black  clothes  are  not  so  fit  to  wear  in  a  hot,  sunny 
climate  or  season,  as  white  ones?" 

He  drawls  from  this  ingenious  experiment  many  more  practical 
inferences,  which  were  discoveries  then,  but  are  now  universally 
acted  upon.  The  white  cap  covering,  called  the  "  Havelock,"  was 
suggested  in  this  letter,  but  only  adopted  in  the  East  Indies  a  very 
few  years  ago.  That  soldiers  in  the  Indies  should  wear  white  uni- 
forms, that  all  summer  hats  should  be  white,  and  garden-fruit  walls 
black,  were  suggestions  of  the  same  epistle. 

Into  the  chaos  of  geology  Franklin  cast  some  penetrating  glances. 
His  conjecture  as  to  the  origin  of  salt-mines  has  been  admired.  "I 
rather  think,"  he  wrote  to  his  brother  Peter,  "  that  all  the  water 


AGED   55.]       STUDIES    AND   PUBLICATIONS    IN    ENGLAND.  427 

on  this  globe  was  originally  salt,  and  that  the  fresh  water  we  find 
in  springs  and  rivers,  is  the  produce  of  distillation.  *  *  *  We 
know  from  their  effects,  that  there  are  deep  fiery  caverns  under  the 
earth,  and  even  under  the  sea ;  if  at  any  time  the  sea  leaks  into  any 
of  them,  the  fluid  j)art  of  the  water  must  evaporate  from  that  heat, 
and  pass  off  through  some  volcano,  while  the  salt  remains,  and  by 
degrees,  and  continual  accretion,  becomes  a  great  mass.  Thus  the 
cavern  may  at  length  be  filled,  and  the  volcano  connected  with  it 
cease  burning,  as  many  it  is  said  have  done ;  and  future  miners, 
penetrating  such  cavern,  find  what  we  call  a  salt-mine.  This  is  a 
fancy  I  had  on  visiting  the  salt-mines  at  Norwich  with  my  son." 

What  renders  these  scientific  writings  the  more  pleasing  is,  that 
they  are  not  "  Papers"  addressed  to  learned  societies,  but  familiar 
letters  to  brothers  and  friends.  Most  of  them,  indeed,  were  com- 
posed for  the  instruction  of  Miss  Stevenson,  who  lived  in  the 
country  a  few  miles  off.  A  sweet  and  noble  friendship  existed 
between  Franklin  and  this  intelligent  girl.  There  was  a  time,  as 
he  hints  in  one  of  his  letters,  when  he  more  than  hoped  to  call  her 
his  child.  His  son,  it  seems,  had  paid  her  the  attentions  which 
usually  lead  to  marriage,  and  the  young  lady,  we  may  infer,  was, 
at  one  time,  far  from  being  averse  to  the  match.  Whether  the 
young  gentleman  abandoned  her,  or  she  dismissed  him,  is  not 
known.  We  can  only  see,  in  the  letters  of  the  period,  that  the  en- 
gagement, to  Dr.  Franklin's  deep  regret,  was  broken  off,  and  the 
young  man  paid  successful  court  to  another  lady.  Perhaps 
Miss  Stevenson  discovered,  that  Mr.  William  Franklin,  Hke  his 
father  before  him,  was  a  parent  without  having  been  a  husband, 
and  shrunk  from  rearing  a  child  who  would  always  remind  her  of 
what  she  could  only  be  happy  by  forgetting.  The  infant  to  which 
reference  is  here  made  was  that  William  Temple  Franklin,  whose 
acquaintance  the  reader  will  have  the  pleasure  of  making  by  and 
by.     He  was  born  of  a  mother  unknown,  about  1760. 

For  Miss  Stevenson,  however,  Dr.  Frankhn  always  cherished  a 
regard  which  was  fatherly  without  wanting  a  little  of  such  gallant 
feeling  as  that  which  Colonel  ISTewcome  felt  for  Ethel.*  Thus  he 
concludes  one  of  his  letters  to  her :  "  After  writing  six  folio  pages 
of  philosophy  to  a  young  girl,  is  it  necessary  to  finish  such  a  letter 

*  1  may  surely  presume  the  intelligent  reader  to  bo  familiar  •with  the  greatest  novel  in  exist- 
ence, Mr.  Thackeray's  "Newcomes." 


428  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FKANKLIN.  [l761. 

with  a  compliment  ?  Is  not  such  a  letter  of  itself  a  compliment  ? 
Does  it  not  say,  she  has  a  mind  thirsty  after  knowledge,  and  capa- 
ble of  receiving  it ;  and  that  the  most  agreeable  things  one  can 
write  to  her  are  those  that  tend  to  the  improvement  of  her  under- 
standing ?  It  does  indeed  say  all  this,  but  then  it  is  still  no  com- 
pliment ;  it  is  no  more  than  plain  honest  truth,  which  is  not  the 
character  of  a  compliment.  So  if  I  would  finish  my  letter  in  the 
mode^  I  should  yet  add  something  that  means  nothing,  and  is  merely 
civil  and  polite.  But,  being  naturally  awkward  at  every  circum- 
stance of  ceremony,  I  shall  not  attempt  it.  I  had  rather  conclude 
abruptly  with  what  pleases  me  more  than  any  compliment  can 
please  you,  that  I  am  allowed  to  subscribe  myself  your  affectionate 
friend." 

She  began  her  reply ;  "  Such  a  letter  is  indeed  the  highest  com- 
pliment. What  you  concluded  it  with  I  should  think  too  far 
strained  to  be  sincere,  if  I  did  not  flatter  myself  it  proceeded  from 
the  w^armth  of  your  affection,  which  makes  you  see  merit  in  me 
that  I  do  not  possess.  It  would  be  too  great  vanity  to  think  I  de- 
serve the  encomiums  you  give  me,  and  it  would  be  ingratitude  to 
doubt  your  sincerity.  Continue,  my  indulgent  friend,  your  favor- 
able opinion  of  me,  and  I  will  endeavor  to  be  what  you  imagine 
me."* 

In  the  summer  of  1761,  Franklin  and  his  son  crossed  to  Holland, 
and  made  the  tour  of  the  low  countries :  France  being  still  closed 
against  English  travelers.  Of  this  tour  we  have  no  record,  except 
that  they  learned  much  in  Holland  which  would  be  useful  to  Amer- 
ica. They  returned  to  London  in  September,  in  time  to  witness 
the  coronation  of  the  young  king.  It  Avas  their  intention  to  set 
sail  for  America  as  early  in  the  spring  of  1762  as  they  could  pro- 
cure safe  convoy. 

Franklin  was  much  besought  to  take  up  his  abode  in  England, 
particularly  by  Mi-.  Strahan,  who  seems  to  have  been  long  unable 
to  give  up  his  scheme  of  uniting  the  two  families  by  the  marriage 
of  his  son  to  the  daughter  of  his  American  friend.  Keenly  as 
Franklin  enjoyed  the  society  and  advantages  of  London,  he  never 
indulged  the  thought  of  forsaking  his  native  land.  To  his  wife  he 
wrote  on  this  subject :    "  Mr.  Strahan's  family  is  a  very  agreeable 

*  "Letters  to  Frankliu,"  p.  11. 


AGED    55.]  EEtUBN   TO    PHILADELPHIA.  429 

one ;  Mrs.  Strahan  a  sensible  and  good  woman,  the  children  of 
amiable  characters,  and  particularly  the  young  man,  who  is  sober, 
ingenious,  and  industrious,  and  a  desirable  person.  In  point  of 
circumstances  there  can  be  no  objection  ;  Mr.  Strahan  being  in  such 
a  way  as  to  lay  up  a  thousand  pounds  every  year  from  the  profits 
of  his  business,  after  maintaining  his  family  and  paying  all  charges. 
I  gave  him,  however,  two  reasons  why  I  could  not  think  of  remov- 
ing hither ;  one,  my  affection  to  Pennsylvania,  and  long  established 
friendships  and  other  connections  there ;  the  other,  your  invincible 
aversion  to  crossing  the  seas.  And  without  removing  hither,  I 
could  not  think  of  parting  with  my  daughter  to  such  a  distance." 

One  other  domestic  event  we  must  notice.  Mrs.  Read,  the  aged 
mother  of  his  wife,  his  own  early  friend,  for  thirty  years  the  honored 
inmate  of  his  abode,  died  near  the  end  of  the  year  1761.  Upon 
hearing  the  news,  he  wrote  to  his  wife  a  letter  of  tender  condo- 
lence,  in  which  occurred  this  passage  :  "Your  comfort  will  be,  that 
no  care  was  wanting  on  your  part  towards  her,  and  that  she  had 
lived  as  long  as  this  life  could  afford  her  any  rational  enjoyment. 
It  is,  I  am  sure,  a  satisfaction  to  me,  that  I  cannot  charge  myself 
with  having  ever  failed  in  one  instance  of  duty  and  respect  to  her 
during  the  many  years  that  she  called  me  son."  It  is  only  just  to 
give  prominence  to  whatever  shows  the  substantial  and  lasting  suc- 
cess of  a  marriage  which  began  in  a  manner  the  opposite  of  ro- 
mantic. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

RETURN   TO    PHILADELPHIA. 


The  greater  part  of  the  year  1762  was  spent  by  Dr.  Frankhn 
in  merely  getting  home.  He  began  to  get  ready  to  leave  London 
early  in  the  spring.  He  reached  Philadelphia  late  in  the  autumn. 
Some  pleasing  events,  however,  occurred  to  alleviate  the  tedium  of 
delay,  and  to  show  him  that  his  friends  and  the  friends  of  science, 
in  the  old  world,  were  as  sorry  to  let  him  go,  as  those  in  the  new 
world  were  glad  to  get  hnn  back. 


430  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIK   FRANKLIN.  [l762. 

Oxford  paid  him  a  parting  compliment.  According  to  the  rec- 
ords of  that  university,  it  was  "  agreed,  nem  con.  (February  22d, 
1762),  at  a  meeting  of  the  Heads  of  the  Houses,  that  Mr.  Franklin, 
whenever  he  shall  please  to  visit  the  university,  shall  be  offered  the 
compliment  of  the  degree  of  D.  C.  L.,  honoris  causcV^  A  month 
later,  Mr.  Franklin,  accompanied  by  his  son,  visited  the  university, 
when  he  received  the  offered  degree,  and  thus  became  twice  a  doc- 
tor. On  the  same  occasion,  the  university  conferred  upon  his  son 
the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts. 

Honors  more  substantial  awaited  Mr.  WiUiam  Franklin,  who 
had  completed  his  legal  studies  and  been  admitted  to  the  bar.  This 
fortunate  young  gentleman  enjoyed  considerable  celebrity  in  Eng- 
land. It  was  known  that  he  had  assisted  his  father  in  his  electrical 
studies,  and  he  was  himself  a  dexterous  experimenter.  His  abili- 
ties were  respectable ;  his  manners  and  presence  were  pleasing ; 
and  he  had  caught  from  his  father  a  facetious  habit  that  rendered 
him  an  entertaining  companion.  Always  the  associate  of  his  father, 
both  at  home  and  on  his  journeys,  he  had  gained  a  large  number 
of  friends,  both  among  the  learned  and  in  the  circles  of  fashion. 

Among  the  magnates  of  the  land  who  favored  the  young  Ameri- 
can, was  Lord  Bute,  the  prime  favorite  of  the  King.  Lord  Bute 
always  affected  literature  and  science.  He  was  a  diligent  collector 
of  books,  pictures,  and  curiosities.  He  was  fond  of  chemistry,  and 
printed,  for  private  distribution,  several  volumes  of  Natural  His- 
tory.* The  worthy  Peter  Collinson  f  was  for  many  years  a  friend 
of  the  Scottish  favorite,  and  through  Collinson,  Franklin  and  his 
son  were  brought  into  acquaintance  with  him.  Between  Lord 
Bute  and  Dr.  Franklin  a  considerable  intimacy  appears  to  have  ex- 
isted. Mr.  John  Adams  mentions  that  "  Dr.  Franklin  once  gaA^e 
Lord  Bute  his  reasons  in  writing  for  believing  De  Fuente's  Voyage 
genuine  ;"J;  a  point  much  disputed  at  that  day.  That  Lord  Bute 
had  an  inclination  to  provide  for  men  of  letters  is  well  known ; 
it  was  he  who  procured  Dr.  Johnson  his  pension,  and  Home  his 
place.  And  now,  in  this  summer  of  1762,  he  embraced  an  oppor- 
tunity to  confer  upon  Dr.  Franklin  the  great  favor  of  making  the 
fortune  of  his  son.  The  govei'norship  of  New  Jersey  fell  vacant. 
Perhaps  it  was  made  vacant ;    for  the  incumbent  resigned,  after 

*  Works  of  John  Adams,  iii.,  179.  t  Lettsom's  "  Memoirs  of  Peter  Collindon." 

$  "  Life  and  Works  of  John  Adams,''  iii,,  381. 


AGED    56.]  KETUKN   TO    PHILADELPHIA.  431 

liolding  the  office  only  a  few  months,  and  was  soon  provided  for  by 
being  appointed  consul  at  Cadiz.*  That  this  governor  expected  to 
remain  in  America  is  indicated  by  his  taking  with  him  to  America 
"  his  wife  and  family."  He  resigned,  however,  for  causes  unknown, 
and  Lord  Bute  urged  the  Earl  of  Halifax  to  bestow  the  place  upon 
Mr.  William  Franklin,  and  thus  make  father  and  son  neighbors  for 
life.  Dr.  Franklin,  we  are  expressly  assured,  did  not  sohcit  the 
favor,  nor  take  any  measures  to  secure  it.f 

It  would  have  required  a  bold  secretary  of  state  to  disregard,  in 
1762,  a  recon:imendation  of  the  Earl  of  Bute.  The  young  gentleman 
was  soon  closeted  with  Lord  Halifax,  and  was  soon  after  appointed 
Governor  of  New  Jersey.     He  was  then  thirty-two  years  of  age. 

The  reader  may  suppose  that  the  governorship  of  such  a  province 
as  New  Jersey  then  was  would  not  be  considered  very  desirable,  or 
be  much  sought  after.  On  the  contrary,  when  it  was  vacant,  in 
1746,  we  find  among  the  applicants  for  it,  Governor  Belcher,  once 
governor  of  Massachusetts,  Lieutenant-Governor  Clark,  of  New 
York,  Lord  Hawley,  and  Admiral  Warren.  The  Duke  of  Bedford 
wrote  to  the  Duke  of  Newcastle,  in  whose  gift  it  was,  entreating 
him  to  make  no  appointment  until  he  had  heard  farther  from  him.J; 

The  emoluments  of  the  office  were  six  hundred  pounds  sterling  a 
year,  I  believe,  and  in  point  of  rank  and  consideration  the  govern- 
or was  the  first  man  in  his  province.  The  governorships  of  the 
American  colonies  were  usually  bestowed  upon  the  needy  friends 
of  ministers ;  men  of  some  rank  who  had  either  squandered  their 
fortunes,  or  had  inherited  only  the  fortune  of  a  younger  son. 

This  appointment  remained  a  secret  for  several  days.  Not  a  whis- 
per of  it  seems  to  have  escaped  until  the  afternoon  of  September 
2d,  when  the  Lo7idon  Chronicle  published  the  following  paragraph : 
"This  morning  was  married  at  St.  George's  Church,  Hanover 
Square,  William  Franklin,  Esq.,  the  new  appointed  Governor  of 
New  Jersey,  to  Miss  Elizabeth  Downes,  of  St.  James's  Street." 
The  astonishment  of  the  Penn  family  was  extreme,  and  they  held 
up  their  hands  in  pious  horror.  The  fact  of  the  illegitimacy  of  the 
new  governor,  though  not  generally  known  in  England,  was  exceed- 
ingly familiar  to  the  proprietaries  and  their  adherents.     The  day 

*  Whitehead's  "History  of  East  Jersey,"  p,lS3. 

t  "Memoirs  of  Dr.  Franklin,"  by  his  Grandson,  vol.  i. 

X  Correspondence  of  John,  fourth  Duke  of  Bedford,!.,  122. 


432  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   :^RANKLIN.  [l762. 

after  the  announcement,  Mr.  John  Penn,  son  of  one  of  the  proprie- 
taries, and  soon  to  become  governor  of  Pennsylvania,  relieved  his 
mind  on  the  subject  in  one  of  his  letters  to  Lord  Stirling '. 

"  It  is  no  less  amazing  than  true,  that  Mr.  William  Franklin,  son 
of  Benjamin  Franklin  of  Philadelphia,  is  appointed  to  be  governor 
of  the  province  of  New  Jersey !  The  warrant  for  his  commission 
was  ordered  to  be  made  out  last  Wednesday.  The  whole  of  thir, 
business  has  been  transacted  in  so  private  a  manner  that  not  a  tittle 
of  it  escaped  until  it  was  seen  in  the  public  papers ;  so  that  there 
was  no  opportunity  of  counteracting,  or,  indeed,  doing  one  single 
thing  that  might  put  a  stop  to  this  shameful  affair.  I  make  no 
doubt  but  the  people  of  Kew  Jersey  will  make  some  remonstrance 
upon  this  indignity  put  upon  them.  You  are  full  as  well  acquainted 
with  the  character  and  principles  of  this  person  as  myself,  and  are  as 
able  to  judge  of  the  impropriety  of  such  an  appointment.  What  a  dis- 
honor and  a  disgrace  it  must  be  to  a  country  to  have  such  a  man  at  the 
head  of  it,  and  to  sit  down  contented  !  Surely  that  will  not  be  the 
case — at  least,  I  should  hope  that  some  effort  would  be  made,  before 
our  Jersey  friends  would  put  up  with  such  an  insult.  If  any  gentle- 
man had  been  appointed,  it  would  have  been  a  different  case — but 
I  cannot  look  upon  the  person  in  question  in  that  light,  by  any  means. 
*  *  I  may,  perhaps,  be  too  strong  in  my  expressions,  but  I 
am  so  extremely  astonished  and  enraged  at  it,  that  I  am  hardly  able 
to  contain  myself  at  the  thought  of  it."* 

Lord  Stilling,  also,  spoke  sneeringly  of  the  young  governor,  as 
"  the  high  and  mighty  William  Franklin." 

The  good  people  of  New  Jersey,  however,  received  the  tidings 
of  the  appointment  with  equanimity,  and  gave  the  new  governor  a 
distinguished  reception.  He  was  escorted  to  Perth  Amboy,  we  are 
told,  by  "  numbers  of  the  gentry  in  sleighs,  and  by  the  Middlesex 
troop  of  horse,"  and  the  corporations  of  New  Brunswick,  Perth 
Amboy,  the  trustees  of  the  College,  and  a  deputation  of  the  clergy, 
greeted  him  with  congratulatory  addresses.f  He  afterwards  fixed 
his  residence  at  Burlington,  where  his  father,  forty  years  before, 
made  friends  with  a  hospitable  old  woman,  and  took  a  chance  boat 
for  Philadelphia. 

To  return  to  Dr.  Franklin.     May,  June,  July,  and  the  greater  part 

*  Duer'8  "  Life  of  Lord  Stirling,"  p.  70. 

t  Whitehearre  History  of  East  Jersey,  p,  183. 


AGED    56.]  RETURN  TO    PHILADELPHIA.  433 

of  August  passed,  and  he  was  still  waiting  for  the  departure  of  the 
fleet,  in  a  vessel  of  which  he  was  to  sail  for  America.  His  farewell 
letters  to  his  friends  were  elegant  and  aifecting.  Mr.  Hume  had 
written  to  him,  in  his  humorous  manner,  that  America  had  sent 
England  many  good  things,  but  only  one  philosopher,  and  him  she 
could  not  retain,  though  holding  fast  every  ounce  of  American  gold. 
Franklin  replied  that  in  England  philosophers  were  numerous,  and 
therefore  he  had  better  carry  away  the  little  knowledge  he  had  to  a 
land  where,  from  its  scarcity,  it  would  be  valued.  To  Lord  Kames 
he  wrote  an  affectionate  farewell.  To  Miss  Stevenson  :  "  I  fancy  I 
feel  a  little  like  dying  saints,  who,  in  parting  with  those  they  love  in 
this  world,  are  only  comforted  with  the  hope  of  more  perfect  hap- 
piness in  the  next.  I  have,  in  America,  connections  of  the  most 
engaging  kind ;  and,  happy  as  I  have  been  in  the  friendships  here 
contracted,  those  promise  me  greater  and  more  lasting  felicity.  But 
God  only  knows  whether  these  promises  shall  be  fulfilled.  Adieu, 
my  dear  good  girl." 

On  one  of  the  last  days  of  August  he  left  a  miserable  little  inn 
at  Portsmouth,  and  rowed  off  to  Spithead,  where  lay  at  anchor  a 
fleet  of  the  American  merchantmen,  and  the  man-of-war  that  was 
to  be  their  convoy.  The  fleet  sailed,  and  Dr.  Franklin  bade  farewell 
to  the  land  of  his  forefathers.  They  had  a  pleasant  run  to  the  island 
of  Madeira,  where  they  remained  several  days,  and  obtained  a  great 
supply  of  fruits  and  fresh  provisions.  Leaving  the  island,  they  were 
wafted  toward  the  American  coast  by  the  trade  winds  in  the  most 
agreeable  manner.  "The  weather  was  so  favorable,"  he  wrote, 
"  that  there  were  few  days  in  which  we  could  not  visit  from  ship  to 
ship,  dining  with  each  other,  and  on  board  of  the  man-of-war  ;  which 
made  the  time  pass  agreeably,  much  more  so  than  when  one  goes  in 
a  single  ship  ;  for  this  was  like  travehng  in  a  moving  village,  with 
all  one's  neighbors  about  one."  Various  philosophical  experiments, 
and  the  observation  of  the  thousand  mysterious  phenomena  of  the 
sea,  wiled  away  the  time. 

During  the  voyage  he  had  the  pleasure  of  reading  his  friend 
Lord  Kames's  new  work,  "  The  Elements  of  Criticism,"  which  is  still 
one  of  our  college  text-books.  The  reading  of  this  work  called  forth 
the  letter  to  the  author,  in  which  occurs  Franklin's  most  ingenious 
discourse  upon  the  ancient  Scotch  melodies,  and  the  reason  why 
they  are  so  pleasing.  Lord  Kames  remarks,  that  "melody  and 
19 


434  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l762. 

harmony  are  separately  agreeable,  and  in  union  ddiglitfuV^  Frank- 
lin observed,  that  that  ^v^as  the  reason  why  the  Scotch  tunes  had 
lived  so  long,  and  would  live  for  ever,  if  they  were  not  stifled  in 
modern  ornaments.  He  explained  his  meaning  thus :  "  An  agree- 
able succession  of  sounds  is  called  melody^  and  only  the  co-existe7ice  of 
agreeable  sounds,  harmony.  But,  since  the  memory  is  capable  of 
retaining  for  some  moments  a  perfect  idea  of  the  pitch  of  a  past 
sound,  so  as  to  compare  with  it  the  pitch  of  a  succeeding  sound, 
and  judge  truly  of  their  agreement  or  disagreement,  there  may 
and  does  arise  from  thence  a  sense  of  harmony  between  the  present 
and  past  sounds^  equally  pleasing  with  that  between  two  present 
sounds.  *  *  *  ^\^Q  Scotch  melodies  were  composed  by  the 
minstrels  of  those  days,  to  be  played  on  the  harp  accompanied  by 
the  voice.  The  harp  was  strung  with  wire,  which  gives  a  sound  of 
long  continuance,  and  had  no  contrivance  like  that  in  the  modern 
harpsichord,  by  which  the  sound  of  the  preceding  could  be  stopped, 
the  moment  a  succeeding  note  began.  To  avoid  actual  discord, 
it  was  therefore  necessary  that  the  succeeding  emphatic  note  should 
he  a  chord  with  the  preceding^  as  their  sounds  must  exist  at  the  same 
time.  Hence  arose  that  beauty  in  those  tunes  that  has  so  long 
pleased,  and  will  please  for  ever,  though  men  scarce  know  why." 

This  theory  he  illustrates  very  happily  and  at  much  length,  but 
we  have  only  space  for  the  mere  idea ;  the  ingenuity  of  which  has 
been  frequently  remarked. 

One  of  his  philosophical  experiments,  which  showed  his  dexterity 
of  hand,  as  well  as  the  darting  activity  of  his  mind,  requires  brief 
notice.  "  During  our  passage  to  Madeira,"  he  wrote  to  one  of  his 
Scotch  friends,  "  the  weather  being  warm,  and  the  cabin  windows 
constantly  open  for  the  benefit  of  the  air,  the  candles  at  night  flared 
and  run  very  much,  which  was  an  inconvenience.  At  Madeira  we 
got  oil  to  burn,  and  with  a  common  glass  tumbler  or  beaker,  slung 
in  wire  and  suspended  to  the  ceiling  of  the  cabin,  and  a  little  wire 
hoop  for  the  wic'x,  furnished  with  corks  to  float  on  the  oil,  I  made 
an  Italian  lamp,  that  gave  us  very  good  light  all  over  the  table. 
The  glass  at  bottom  contained  water  to  about  one  third  of  its 
height ;  another  third  was  taken  up  with  oil ;  the  rest  was  left 
empty  that  the  sides  of  the  glass  might  protect  the  flame  from  the 
wind.  There  is  nothing  remarkable  in  all  this ;  but  what  follows  is 
particular.     At   supper,  looking   on   the    lamp,  I  remarked,  that 


AGED   56.]  RETURN   TO   PHILADELPHIA.  435 

though  the  surface  of  the  oil  was  perfectly  tranquil,  and  duly  pre- 
served its  position  and  distance  with  regard  to  the  brim  of  the  glass, 
the  water  under  the  oil  was  in  great  commotion,  rising  and  falling 
in  irregular  waves,  which  continued  during  the  whole  evening. 
The  lamp  was  kept  burning  as  a  watch-light  all  night,  till  the  oil 
was  spent,  and  the  water  only  remained.  In  the  morning  I  ob- 
served, that  though  the  motion  of  the  ship  continued  the  same,  the 
water  was  now  quiet,  and  its  surface  as  tranquil  as  that  of  the  oil 
had  been  the  evening  before.  At  night  again,  when  oil  was  put 
upon  it,  the  water  resumed  its  irregular  motions,  rising  in  high 
waves  almost  to  the  surface  of  the  oil,  but  without  disturbing  the 
smooth  level  of  that  surface.  And  this  was  repeated  every  day 
during  the  voyage." 

He  afterwards  repeated  the  experiment  with  other  implements, 
but  was  unable  to  give  an  explanation  of  the  result  which  satisfied 
his  own  mind. 

In  the  ninth  week  after  leaving  Portsmouth,  he  trod  once  more 
his  native  land.  His  return  home  was  joyous  and  triumphant.  To 
Lord  Kames  he  writes  :  "  On  the  first  of  November  I  arrived  safe 
and  well  at  my  own  home,  after  an  absence  of  near  six  years,  found 
my  wife  and  daughter  well;  the  latter  grown  quite  a  woman,  with 
many  amiable  accomplishments  acquired  in  my  absence ;  and  my 
friends  as  hearty  and  affectionate  as  ever,  with  whom  my  house  was 
filled  for  many  days,  to  congratulate  me  on  my  return.  I  had  been 
chosen  yearly  during  my  absence  to  represent  the  city  of  Philadel- 
phia in  our  provincial  Assembly ;  and,  on  my  appearance  in  the 
House,  they  voted  me  three  thousand  pounds  sterling  for  my  ser- 
vices in  England,  and  their  thanks,  delivered  by  the  Speaker.  In 
February  following  my  son  arrived  with  my  new  daughter ;  for, 
with  my  consent  and  approbation,  he  married  soon  after  I  left 
England  a  very  agreeable  West  India  lady,  with  whom  he  is  very 
happy.  I  accompanied  him  to  his  government,  where  he  met  with 
the  kindest  reception  from  the  people  of  all  ranks,  and  has  lived 
with  them  ever  since  in  the  greatest  harmony.  A  river  only  parts 
that  province  and  ours,  and  his  residence  is  within  seventeen  miles 
of  me,  so  that  we  frequently  see  each  other." 

He  soon  fell  into  the  old  routine.  In  the  early  summer  of  the; 
following  year  he  completed  the  reunion  with  his  friends  and  coun- 
try, by  making  a  post-office  tour  of  sixteen  hundred  miles.    He  was 


436  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1763. 

accompanied  by  his  daughter,  then  a  blooming  lass  of  eighteen, 
grandly  beautiful,  and  all  vivacity  and  good  humor.  "  Sally  kept  to 
her  horse  the  greatest  part  of  the  journey  :"  her  father  records.  One 
sweet  touch  we  must  also  notice,  which  occurs  in  one  of  his  letters 
to  his  wife,  written  on  the  journey :  "  I  approve  of  your  opening 
all  my  English  letters,  as  it  must  give  you  pleasure  to  see  that  peo- 
ple who  knew  me  there  so  long  and  so  intimately,  retain  so  sincere 
a  regard  for  me." 

And  now.  Dr.  Franklin  having  served  the  public  for  fifteen  years, 
and  reached  the  ease-loving  age  of  fifty-seven,  was  well  inclined 
to  enter  upon  the  life  of  studious  leisure  which  he  had  promised 
himself  on  retiring  from  business  in  1748.  He  meant  to  build  a 
house  more  spacious  and  convenient  than  any  he  had  yet  inhabited, 
in  which  he  would  entertain  his  friends,  make  philosophical  experi- 
ments, compose  his  Art  of  Virtue,  and  spend  the  evening  of  his  life 
in  tranquillity.  It  was  a  dream  never  to  be  realized.  Again  he 
was  caught  in  the  rush  of  unexpected  events,  and  borne  far  enough 
from  the  way  of  life  he  had  proposed. 


CHAPTER   X. 

A   YEAR   OP   INTESTINE   COMMOTION. 

The  peace  of  Paris,  which  terminated  the  Seven  Years'  War, 
was  signed  on  the  tenth  of  February,  1763.  England  gained, 
during  that  tremendous  contest,  twelve  pitched  battles,  reduced 
nine  fortified  cities  and  forty  forts,  captured  or  destroyed  one  hun- 
dred ships  of  war,  conquered  Canada,  India,  and  twenty-five  im- 
portant islands,  and  took  ten  millions  sterling  in  plunaer.*  When 
the  flatterers  of  George  HI.  told  him  that  no  king  of  England  had 
ever  before  concluded  a  peace  so  glorious,  they  meant  to  utter  a 
party  cry,  but,  perhaps,  they  spoke  the  truth ;  for  England  relin- 
quished at  this  peace  more  conquests  than  she  had  won  in  any  pre- 
vious war.     In  that  catalogue  of  successes  we  see  one  chief  cause 

*  Encycloptedia  Britannica,  v.,  406. 


AGED   57.]  A   YEAR    OF   INTESTINE   COMMOTION.  437 

of  the  abounding  arrogance  which  enabled  George  III.  to  carry 
the  English  people  with  him  in  his  subsequent  measures  against 
America. 

Once  more,  then,  there  was  peace  in  Europe,  and  safety  on  the 
ocean.  But  not  in  America.  In  making  the  peace  of  Paris,  one 
of  the  belligerent  powers  had  not  been  consulted,  namely,  the 
North  American  Indians.  Both  English  and  French  had  been  try- 
ing, for  several  years,  to  inflame  the  animosities  of  the  red  man ; 
and  yet  both  English  and  French  seem  to  have  expected  that  when 
the  Duke  of  Bedford  put  his  name  to  the  treaty  of  peace  in  the  city 
of  Paris,  the  Indians  would  perceive  the  significance  of  the  act, 
and  perform  the  similar  rite  of  burying  the  tomahawk.  The  Indi- 
ans, alas  !  knew  nothing  of  the  Duke  of  Bedford,  nor  of  his  magic 
pen.  Blood  and  plunder  were  as  alluring  to  them  after  the  peace 
as  before ;  and  all  along  the  back  settlements  of  the  colonies,  from 
Niagara  to  Florida,  villages  were  still  burned,  families  murdered, 
farms  laid  waste,  and  women  and  children  carried  into  captivity. 

Pennsylvania  suflfered  most.  In  1763,  from  early  spring  to  early 
winter,  the  western  parts  of  this  province  were  ravaged  by  hostile 
Indians.  All  the  churches  in  Philadelphia  made  collections  for  the 
relief  of  the  families  driven  from  their  homes.  Christ  Church,  as 
we  learn  from  the  minutes  of  the  vestry,  raised  £662  for  this  pur- 
pose in  1763,  and  sent  out  a  missionary  to  expend  it  to  the  best 
advantage.  He  reported  seven  hundred  and  fifty  abandoned  farms, 
and  two  hundred  women  and  children  fled  to  Fort  Pitt.  The  same 
liberal  church  sent  for  distribution  in  the  western  counties,  besides 
the  money,  two  chests  of  arms,  half  a  barrel  of  powder,  four  hun- 
dred pounds  of  lead,  two  hundred  bullets,  and  a  hundred  flints. 
All  the  Pennsylvanian  records  of  this  year,  whether  of  church  or 
state,  are  filled  with  evidences  of  the  terror  and  desolation  which 
came  upon  the  province  immediately  after  the  conclusion  of  the  » 
peace  of  Paris. 

In  October  of  this  bloody  year  there  was  another  change  of 
governors  in  Pennsylvania.  Governor  Hamilton  resigned,  and  Mr. 
John  Penn  arrived  from  England  to  take  his  place.  As  usual,  the 
new  governor  was  received  with  joyful  welcome,  and  with  more 
joy  than  usual,  for  the  appointment  of  a  Penn  was  regarded  as  a 
peace-offering  from  the  proprietaries.  It  was,  also,  presumed  that 
they  would  not  think  it  necessary  to  tie  the  hands  of  so  near  a 


438  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l763. 

relative  with  ligid  instructions.     Governor  Penn  summoned  the 
Assembly.     His  first  address  was  as  conciliatory  as  could  be  de- 
sired.    The  House  responded  with  words  equally  jDolite,  and  with 
a  grant  of  six  hundred  pounds  towards  his  first  year's  support.     A 
bill  was  passed  for  raising  and  equipping  a  thousand  men  to  go 
against  the  murderous  Indians  in  the  western  counties.    The  House 
then  adjourned  to  meet  again  in  regular  session  a  few  weeks  later. 
The  Indian  ravages  continued  until  every  white  man  in  Pennsyl- 
vania loathed  the  name  of  Indian.     Among  some  of  the  religious 
sects,  particularly  the  Scotch-Irish   Presbyterians  of  the  western 
counties,  the  fatal  opinion  arose,  that  the  Quaker  policy  toward  the 
Indians  had  been  impiously  wrong,  and  that  these  late  murders  and 
burnings  were  the  vengeance  of  an  angry  deity  for  the  ofiense  of 
not  utterly  destroying  a  heathen  race.     The  example  of  the  ancient 
Israelites  was  adduced  by  some  of  these  perplexed  and   terror- 
blinded  enthusiasts.     This  terrible  opinion,  once  started  at  such  a 
time,  among  such  a  people,  could  not  but  spread  and  bear  fruit. 
We  find,  accordingly,  that  in  December  of  this  year,  a  deed  was 
done  in  Pennsylvania,  by  a  party  of  white  Christians,  so  bloody 
and  savage,  that  the  tale  still  astonishes  those  who  read  it  as  much 
as  it  shocks  them.     Near  Lancaster  there  lived  the  poor  remnant 
of  a  once  powerful  tribe,  one  of  those  tribes  which  had  made  the 
original  treaty  with  WiUiarn  Penn,  and  had  lived  in  perfect  peace 
with  the  white  man  ever  since.     They  were  now  reduced  to  twenty 
persons — seven  men,  five  women,  and  eight  children.     One  of  the 
old  men  had  shaken  the  hand  of  William  Penn.     All  of  the  twenty 
were  harmless,  virtuous  people,  bore  English  names,  and  lived  in 
harmony  with  their  white  neighbors.      December  14th,  a  party  of 
horsemen  from  the  Scotch-Irish  district  of  Paxton,  well-mounted, 
heavily  armed,  surrounded  the  little  village  of  huts  at  dawn  of  day, 
killed  and  scalped  every  creature  in  it,  and  burned  the  village  to 
the  ground.     It  happened  that  but  six  of  the  inhabitants  of  the 
village  were  at  home  that  morning.     The  other  fourteen  were  col- 
lected by  the  magistrates  of  the  vicinity,  and  placed  for  safety  in 
the  Lancaster  work-house :  that  being  the  strongest  building  in  the 
town.     Two  weeks  after,  the  same  party  of  horsemen  surrounded 
the  work-house,  forced  an  entrance,  and  proceeded  to  the  comple- 
tion of  their  bloody  task.     A  scene  shocking  beyond  description 
ensued.     "When  the  poor  wretches  saw  they  had  no  protection 


AGED   57.]  A   YEAR   OF   INTESTINE   COMMOTION.  439 

nigli,  nor  could  possibly  escape,  and  being  without  the  least  weap- 
on for  defense,  they  divided  into  their  little  families,  the  children 
clinging  to  the  parents ;  they  fell  on  their  knees,  protested  their 
innocence,  declared  their  love  to  the  English,  and  that  in  their 
whole  lives  they  had  never  done  them  injury ;  and  in  this  posture 
they  all  received  the  hatchet  !"* 

Susanna  Wright,  one  of  the  nearest  white  neighbors  of  these 
murdered  Indians,  testified  strongly  to  their  inoffensive  character, 
and  their  friendliness  to  the  whites.  "  The  cruel  murder  of  these 
poor  Indians,"  she  wrote,  "has  affected  and  discomposed  my  mind 
beyond  what  I  can  express.  We  had  known  the  greater  part  of 
them  from  children  ;  had  been  always  intimate  with  them.  Three 
or  four  of  the  women  were  sensible  and  civiHzed,  and  the  Indians' 
children  used  to  play  with  ours,  and  oblige  them  all  they  could. 
We  had  many  endearing  recollections  of  them,  and  the  manner  of 
effecting  the  brutal  enormity  so  affected  us,  that  we  had  to  beg 
visitors  to  forbear  to  speak  of  it.  But  it  was  still  the  subject  with 
everybody."! 

The  worst  of  the  Paxton  massacre  remains  to  be  told.  That 
Kobespierre  should  have  guillotined  fifty  Frenchmen  a  day  was  ter- 
rible ;  but  the  true  horror  was  that  France  was  then  such  a  France 
that  it  could  permit  and  applaud  the  slaughter.  And  how  far  more 
awful  than  all  the  other  circumstances  of  an  inquisitorial  Auto-da-fo 
Avas  the  dreadful  fact,  that  the  people,  tens  of  thousands  of  them,  look- 
ed upon  the  scene  with  sincere  and  entire  approval.  This  massacre 
of  inoffensive  Indians — so  morbid  had  the  public  opinion  of  Penn- 
sylvania become,  through  terror  and  irreligious  conceptions  of  the 
Creator — was  but  coldly  disapproved  by  the  people  of  the  prov- 
ince ;  while  a  powerful  party  applauded  it  as  a  deed  acceptable  to 
their  God.  Consequently,  the  efforts  of  the  magistrates  to  discover 
the  perpetrators  were  fruitless.  The  proclamation  of  Governor 
Penn  produced  no  effect,  and  the  feeling  seemed  general  to  excuse 
the  murderers,  as  men  who  had  been  maddened  by  the  murder  of 
their  neighbors  and  relatives. 

Ashamed  that  his  Pennsylvania  should  seem  to  permit  so  foul  an 
act,  Franklin  wrote  a  generous,  eloquent  pamphlet,  designed  to 
bring  the  people  to  a  sense  of  its  mean  atrocity.     He  told  the 

*  "  Franklin's  Narrative,"  Sparks,  iv.,  69. 
t  Watson's  Annals  of  Philadelphia,  ii.,  169. 


440  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN"  FEANKLlN.  [l763. 

story  of  the  murder  in  plain,  cool  language,  describing  the  harmless 
character  of  the  poor  Indians,  an'd  giving  their  names  and  ages. 
He  pictured  the  horrid  scene  of  the  second  massacre.  He  touched 
upon  the  deep  impiety  of  seeking  to  justify  such  an  act  by  the 
pretended  sanction  of  a  beneficent  God.  From  history,  from 
heroic  romance  and  poetry,  he  selected  examples  of  the  magnani- 
mous forgiveness  of  a  submissive  foe,  of  noble  hospitality  bestowed 
upon  the  helpless,  of  good  deeds  done  to  those  who  had  not  de- 
served, and  who  could  never  requite  them.  He  finished  his 
pamphlet  by  an  appeal  to  the  better  feelings  of  his  countrymen, 
that  was  earnest  almost  to  passion. 

This  production,  its  author  mentions,  "  produced  a  good  effect," 
but  it  did  not  touch  the  murderers,  nor  their  irreligious  abettors. 
A  hundred  and  forty  friendly  Indians,  converts  of  the  good  Mora- 
vians, fearing  to  share  the  fate  of  their  countrymen,  sought  refuge 
in  Philadelphia,  where  they  were  sheltered  and  provided  for. 
Their  pastor,  a  Moravian  missionary,  accompanied  them  to  the 
city,  and  lived  with  them  there,  holding  daily  religious  services  in 
the  Moravian  manner.  The  Paxton  fanatics,  to  the  number  of 
several  hundreds,  armed  with  hatchets  and  rifles,  clad  in  hunting 
shirts,  and  prating  of  Joshua  and  an  avenging  God,  set  out  in  two 
bodies  for  Philadelphia,  avowing  and  proclaiming  their  purpose  to 
kill  these  Indians.  Philadelphia  was  in  consternation.  Governor 
Penn  was  at  his  wits'  end.  Like  many  previous  Governors  of 
Pennsylvania,  his  first  thought  in  time  of  trouble  was  to  fly  for 
help  to  Franklin.  On  this  occasion  he  made  the  house  of  Dr. 
Franklin  his  head-quarters,  and  concerted  measures  with  him  from 
hour  to  hour.  Once  more,  Franklin  formed  an  Association  for  the 
defense  of  the  city ;  and  again  he  figured  as  the  non-commissioned 
colonel  of  an  extemporized  regiment  of  a  thousand  men.  "  Gov- 
ernor Penn,"  he  humorously  says,  "  did  every  thing  by  my  advice ; 
so  that,  for  about  forty-eight  hours,  I  was  a  very  great  man ;  as  I 
had  been  once  some  years  before,  in  a  time  of  public  danger." 

The  Paxton  band,  meanwhile,  had  reached  Germantown,  only 
seven  miles  from  the  city.  At  the  request  of  the  Governor  and 
Council,  Dr.  Franklin  and  three  other  gentlemen  rode  out  to 
Germantown  to  confer  with  the  insurgents.  The  new  regiment  of 
volunteers  remained  under  arms  in  the  city,  and  a  body  of  king's 
troops  had  been  marched  in  to  aid  them.     The  barracks,  in  which 


AGED    57.]  A   YEAR    OP   INTESTINE   COMMOTION.  441 

the  poor  Indians  were  sheltered,  with  their  Moravian  pastor,  were 
surrounded  with  intrenchments,  at  which  young  Quakers  who  would 
not  bear  arms  still  worked,  as  they  had  been  working  night  and 
day.  The  city  was  in  extreme  terror.  Dr.  Franklin,  however,  suc- 
ceeded in  convincing  the  Paxton  leaders  that  the  Indians  were  too 
well  defended  to  be  taken.  Or,  to  use  his  own  language,  "the 
fighting  face  we  put  on,  and  the  reasonings  we  used  with  the  insur- 
gents, having  turned  them  back  and  restored  quiet  to  the  city,  I 
became  a  less  man  than  ever ;  for  I  had,  by  this  transaction,  made 
myself  many  enemies  among  the  populace." 

Governor  Penn  went  back  to  his  own  house.  The  Paxtons 
marched  rioting  through  the  country,  to  the  terror  of  all  peaceable  in- 
habitants, and  were  received  by  the  people  of  their  own  district 
with  open  arms. 

And  now  this  Governor  John  Penn  began  to  show  the  quality  of 
his  metal.  Franklin  had  rescued  him  from  a  danger  from  which  he 
ought  to  have  rescued  himself.  The  Governor  resented  the  humili- 
ating obligation.  He  truckled  to  the  Paxton  men  and  their  partisans. 
He  openly  favored  the  party  who  excused  and  justified  them,  and 
set  at  naught  the  advice  of  Franklin  and  his  friends,  who  urged  him 
to  prosecute  and  bring  to  punishment  the  ringleaders  of  the  mur- 
dering band.  Pamphlets  were  sold  about  the  streets  applauding 
the  massacre,  and  denouncing  those  who  had  protected  the  Mora- 
vian Indians.  A  few  weeks  after  the  events  just  related,  John  Penn 
put  his  hand  to  a  proclamation  the  most  infamous  ever  signed  by  an 
American  Governor,  designed  to  flatter  and  gratify  the  Paxton 
party.  This  proclamation  offered  the  following  bounties :  For 
every  captive  male  Indian  of  any  hostile  tribe,  one  hundred  and 
fifty  dollars  ;  for  every  female  captive,  one  hundred  and  thirty-eight 
dollars ;  for  the  scalp  of  a  male  Indian,  one  hundred  and  thirty-four 
dollars ;  for  the  scalp  of  a  female  Indian^  fif^V  dollars  I  How  it 
was  to  be  ascertained  whether  the  scalps  brought  in  had  covered 
friendly  or  hostile  heads,  does  not  appear.  A  grandson  of  William 
Penn  signed  this  document ! 

Thus,  in  the  beginning  of  1 764,  there  was  formed  a  strange  coalition 
against  Franklin  ;  the  aristocratic  partisans  of  the  Penn  family,  and 
the  ignorant  fanatics  who  approved  the  massacre  of  the  friendly  In- 
dians. A  coalition  of  this  kind  is  always  to  be  feared ;  for  all  civilized 
communities  formerly  consisted  of  three  classes,  namely.  Governing 
19* 


442  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [l764. 

Persons,  Middle  Class,  and  Multitude ;  and  any  two  of  these  are 
stronger  than  any  one  of  them.  We  shall  soon  see  what  this 
ominous  conjunction  was  able  to  effect  against  our  philosopher. 

Many  months  passed  before  it  was  considered  safe  to  let  the 
Moravian  Indians  leave  the  city ;  a  fact  which  shows  the  power  of 
the  "hip  and  thigh  party"  in  the  rural  counties.  The  small-pox, 
we  are  told,  broke  out  among  them.  Fifty-six  of  them  died  in  the 
barracks,  whose  bodies  form  part  of  the  great  assemblage  of  human 
bones  that  lie  under  the  gravel  paths,  under  the  green  grass  and 
beautiful  trees  of  Washington  Square.* 

The  rational  hope  which  the  Assembly  had  indulged  that  the 
new  Governor  w^ould  refrain  from  that  interference  with  legislation 
w^hich  had  kept  the  province  in  a  broil  for  twenty  years,  was  soon 
dissipated.  Fruitless  of  the  results  expected  was  Fi-anklin's  partial 
triumph  at  the  English  court.  At  the  regular  session  of  the  As- 
sembly, early  in  1764,  Governor  Penn  refused  his  assent  to  two 
bills  most  essential  to  the  peace  of  the  province.  One  was  a  militia 
bill  drawn  up  by  Franklin,  which  contained  a  provision  for  giving 
the  members  of  each  company  a  voice  in  the  election  of  its  officers, 
and  the  subalterns  a  voice  in  the  electing  of  the  major,  lieutenant-col- 
onel, and  colonel.  Governor  Penn  refused  to  sign  the  bill  unless  this 
clause  were  stricken  out,  and  himself  invested  with  the  power  of 
appointing  aU  the  officers.  He  demanded,  also,  that  the  fines  im- 
posed by  the  bill  for  military  offenses  should  be  trebled  in  amount, 
and  the  offenders  tried  by  court-martial,  instead  of  by  a  court  and 
jury,  as  the  bill  provided.  The  second  bill  vetoed  by  this  exas- 
perating official  w^as  an  act  for  raising  fifty  thousand  pounds  to 
defray  the  expense  of  the  coming  campaign  against  the  Indians. 
In  accordance  with  the  decision  of  the  king  in  council,  this  act  laid 
an  equal  tax  upon  aU  the  located  lands  of  the  province,  making  no 
distinction  whatever  between  the  estate  of  the  Penns  and  the  lands 
of  resident  owners.  The  Governor  refused  to  sign  this  bill  unless 
a  distinction  was  made  in  favor  of  the  Penn  estate,  rating  its  best 
uncultivated  lands  at  the  rate  paid  by  other  owners  for  their  worst. 
It  was  a  mere  quibble  designed  as  a  set-off  to  Franklui's  harmless 
and  beneficial  ruse  before  the  Privy  Council. 

Indignation  and  despair  filled  the  hearts  of  the  libeial  majority 

*  Watson's  "  Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  ii.,  169. 


AGED    58.]  A   YEAH    OF   INTESTINE    COMMOTION.  443 

of  the  Assembly.  The  struggle  of  a  generation  was  still  to  be 
renewed.  All  their  past  labors,  sacrifices,  expenditures  in  the 
assertion  of  their  rights,  proved  fruitless.  At  a  moment  when  the 
province  was  wasted  by  a  savage  foe  and  rent  by  intestine  feuds, 
when  government  had  just  been  openly  defied,  and  murdering 
hordes  threatened  th^  metropolis  itself,  even  then,  the  measures 
most  obviously  and  most  immediately  necessary  for  the  safety  of 
the  province  and  the  maintenance  of  government,  were  frustrated 
by  "the  insolent,  tribunitial  veto"  (to  use  Franklin's  wrathful 
words)  of  an  arrogant,  ignorant  young  man,  an  alien  and  a  stran- 
ger in  their  midst. 

What  followed  these  vetoes  has  been  related  by  Franklin  with 
peculiar  force.  "  Never,"  he  says,  "  did  any  administration  open 
with  a  more  promising  prospect  than  this  of  Governor  Penn.  *  * 
But  when  it  was  found  that  those  mischievous  instructions  still 
subsisted,  and  Avere  even  further  extended;  when  the  governor 
began,  improvoked,  to  send  the  House  affronting  messages,  seizing 
every  imaginary  occasion  of  reflecting  on  their  conduct;  when 
every  other  symptom  appeared  of  fixed,  deep-rooted,  family  malice, 
which  could  but  a  little  while  bear  the  unnatural  covering  that  had 
been  thrown  over  it;  what  wonder  is  it,  if  all  the  old  wounds 
broke  out  and  bled  afresh;  if  all  the  old  grievances,  still  unre- 
dressed, were  recollected ;  if  despair  succeeded  of  seeing  any  peace 
with  a  family  that  could  make  such  returns  to  all  their  overtures 
of  kindness.  And  when,  in  the  very  proprietary  council,  com- 
posed of  staunch  friends  of  the  family,  and  chosen  for  their  attach- 
ment to  it,  it  was  observed,  that  the  old  men  (1  Kings,  chap,  xii.) 
withdrew  themselves,  finding  their  opinion  slighted,  and  that  all 
measures  were  taken  by  the  advice  of  two  or  three  young  men 
(one  of  whom  too  denies  his  share  in  them) ;  is  it  any  wonder,  since 
like  causes  produce  like  effects,  if  the  Assembly,  notwithstanding 
all  their  veneration  for  the  first  proprietor,  should  say,  with  the 
children  of  Israel  under  the  same  circumstances,  '  What  portion 
have  we  in  David,  or  inheritance  in  the  son  of  Jesse  ?  To  your 
tents,  O  Israel.'      *     *     * 

"They,  therefore,  after  a  thorough  debate,  and  making  no  less 
than  twenty-five  unanimous  resolves,  expressing  the  many  griev- 
ances this  province  had  long  labored  under  through  the  proprietary 
government,  came  to   the  following  resolution,  viz.;   '"Resolved, 


444  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1764. 

nemine  contradicente,  that  this  House  will  adjourn,  in  order  to  con- 
sult their  constituents,  whether  an  humble  address  should  be 
drawn  up  and  transmitted  to  his  Majesty ;  praying  that  he  would 
be  graciously  pleased  to  take  the  people  of  this  province  under  his 
immediate  protection  and  government,  by  completing  the  agree- 
ment heretofore  made  with  the  first  proprietary  for  the  sale  of  the 
government  to  the  crown,  or  otherwise,  as  to  his  wisdom  and 
goodness  shall  seem  meet.'  " 

This  adjournment  occurred  on  the  20th  of  March.  There  w^as 
an  interval  of  seven  weeks  before  the  Assembly  again  came  to- 
gether; during  which,  I  need  scarcely  say,  the  two  parties  be- 
stirred themselves  mightily.  Franklin  published  a  vigorous  pam- 
phlet, entitled,  "Cool  Thoughts  on  the  Present  Situation  of  our 
Public  Affairs,  addressed  to  a  Friend  in  the  Country ;"  in  w^hich 
the  most  was  made  of  the  argument  against  the  proprietary  gov- 
ernment. Meetings  were  held  in  many  townships,  and  there  w^as 
a  great  signing  of  petitions  in  all  parts  of  the  province.  When  the 
legislature  reassembled  on  the  14th  of  May,  three  thousand  names 
were  found  appended  to  the  various  petitions  for  a  change  of  gov- 
ernment, and  not  three  hundred  to  those  of  a  contrary  tenor. 
There  could  be  no  mistaking  the  desire  of  the  people.  After  a 
long  and  warm  debate,  the  resolution  to  petition  the  king  to  con- 
vert Pennsylvania  into  a  royal  province,  was  carried  by  a  large 
majority. 

Mr.  Isaac  Norris,  the  venerable  speaker  of  the  House,  was  one 
of  those  who  shrunk,  at  the  last  moment,  from  a  change  so  radical, 
and,  rather  than  sign  the  petition,  resigned  the  speakership.  Dr. 
Franklin,  who  w^as  immediately  elected  speaker,  had  no  such  scruples, 
and  the  petition  was  duly  signed  by  him.  The  document  briefly 
set  forth :  "  That  the  proprietary  government  is  weak,  unable  to 
support  its  own  authority  and  maintain  the  common  internal  peace 
of  the  province;  great  riots  have  lately  arisen  therein,  armed  mobs 
marching  from  place  to  place,  and  committing  violent  outrages  and 
insults  on  the  government  with  impunity,  to  the  great  terror  of 
your  Majesty's  subjects.  And  these  evils  are  not  likely  to  receive 
any  remedy  here,  the  continual  disputes  between  the  proprietaries 
and  people,  and  their  mutual  jealousies  and  dislikes,  preventing. 
We  do,  therefore,  most  humbly  pray,  that  your  Majesty  would  be 
graciously  pleased  to  resume  the  government  of  this   province, 


AGED    58.]  A   YEAR    OF   INTESTINE    COMMOTION.  445 

making  such  compensation  to  the  proprietaries  for  the  same  as  to 
your  Majesty's  wisdom  and  goodness  shall  appear  just  and  equi- 
table." 

At  this  exciting  session  of  the  Pennsylvania  Legislature,  another 
subject  received  attention ;  a  subject  destined  soon  to  swallow  up 
all  other  colonial  topics.  Early  in  the  year  1764,  Mr.  George 
Grenville,  prime  minister  of  England,  called  together  the  agents  of 
the  American  colonies  resident  in  London,  and  told  them  that  the 
war  had  left  upon  England  a  debt  of  seventy-three  millions  sterling, 
and  that  he  meant  to  ask  parliament  to  lay  a  portion  of  this  burthen 
upon  the  young  shoulders  of  America.  America  !  that  had  made 
such  prodigious  sacrifices  already,  and  was  herself  staggering  under 
mountains  of  debt.  America!  still  battling  with  a  savage  foe. 
The  minister  further  said,  that  the  mode  in  which  he  had  thought 
to  tax  the  colonies  was  a  stamp  duty ;  but  that  if  any  other  tax, 
equally  productive,  would  be  more  agreeable  or  convenient  to  the 
colonies,  he  should  be  glad  to  know  it  before  bringing  the  matter 
before  parliament.  He  concluded  by  directing  the  agents  to  write 
to  their  several  Assemblies  for  instructions  on  this  point. 

They  wrote  as  directed.  No  American  reader  needs  to  be  in- 
formed of  the  effect  produced  in  America  by  the  announcement  of 
Mr.  Grenville's  purpose.  Mr.  Bancroft's  recent  volumes  tell  the 
story  of  the  stamp  act  with  such  fullness  of  detail,  and  in  so  agree- 
able a  manner,  that  it  is  now  a  disgrace  to  any  American  citizen  not 
to  be  familiar  with  it.  Nothing  remains  to  us  but  to  relate  Dr. 
Franklin's  part,  first,  in  holding  together,  and,  then,  in  rending 
asunder,  England  and  her  American  colonies. 

No  legislature  behaved,  on  this  occasion,  with  more  firmness  and 
moderation  than  the  loyal  little  parliament  of  Pennsylvania.  Dr. 
Franklin  has  himself  recorded  the  substance  of  the  opinions  upon 
the  subject  which  were  expressed  by  members  at  this  session,  and 
the  conclusion  at  which  they  arrived.  To  tax  the  colonies  at  all 
they  thought  cruel,  for  they  were  already  taxed  beyond  their 
strength  ;  but  to  tax  them  by  act  of  parliament,  wherein  they  were 
not  represented,  was  adding  indignity  to  cruelty.  Nevertheless,  to 
the  requisition  of  a  gracious  king  they  could  never  be  deaf.  If  the 
king  needed  their  assistance,  let  him  but  signify  his  need  in  the  usual 
manner,  and  the  Assembly  would  do  all  that  in  them  lay  to  afford 
him   aid.    All  of  which   was   summed   up  in   a  resolve  to   this 


446  LIFE  AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l764. 

effect :  "  That,  as  the  Assembly  always  had,  so  they  always  should, 
think  it  their  duty  to  grant  aid  to  the  crown,  according  to  their 
abilities,  whenever  required  of  them  in  the  usual  constitutional 
manner." 

The  subject  then  dropped,  as  the  stamp  act  was  not  introduced 
into  parliament  until  fifteen  months  after  the  meeting  of  the  agents 
at  Mr.  Grenville's  office.  The  Assembly  adjourned  early  in  the 
summer,  not  to  reassemble  until  after  the  fall  elections.  Franklin 
occupied  the  Speaker's  chair  but  a  few  days.  The  members  of  the 
Assembly  being  elected  annually,  the  speaker  held  his  office  only 
until  the  end  of  the  session.     Election  day  was  the  first  of  October. 

Now  came  the  tug  of  war.  All  parties  seemed  to  feel  that  the 
issue  of  the  next  election  would  either  terminate  the  proprietary 
government,  or  give  it  a  new  lease  of  power ;  for  the  impression 
prevailed  that  the  Home  administration  were  more  than  willing  to 
add  the  Pennsylvania  offices  to  the  patronage  of  the  crown.  Th-e 
letters  of  that  summer  written  by  leading  Philadelphians  contain 
amazing  evidences  of  the  power  of  party  spirit  to  blind  and  pervert 
the  understandings  of  good  men.  We  find  Dr.  John  Ewing,  a 
clergyman  of  renown,  provost  of  the  college,  justifying  the  slaughter 
of  the  friendly  Indians,  applauding  the  Paxton  insurgents,  blaming 
Franklin  for  protecting  the  Moravian  Indians,  and  denouncing  the 
British  ministry  for  sending  out  an  order  for  the  prosecution  of  the 
rioters.     Hear  this  reverend  apologist  for  massacre  and  tyranny : 

"  Our  province  is  greatly  involved  in  intestine  feuds.  *  *  * 
A  few  designing  men,  having  engrossed  too  much  power  into  their 
hands,  are  pushing  matters  beyond  all  bounds.  There  are  twenty- 
two  Quakers  in  our  Assembly  at  present,  who,  although  they  won't 
absolutely  refuse  to  grant  money  for  the  king's  use,  yet  never  fail 
to  contrive  matters  in  such  a  manner  as  to  afford  little  or  no  assist- 
ance to  the  poor  distressed  frontiers ;  while  our  public  money  is 
lavishly  squandered  away  in  supporting  a  number  of  savages,  who 
have  been  murdering  and  scalping  us  for  many  years  past.  This 
(murdering  and  scalping)  has  enraged  some  desperate  young  men, 
who  had  lost  their  nearest  relations  by  these  very  Indians,  to  cut 
off  about  twenty  Indians  that  lived  near  Lancaster,  who  had,  dur- 
ing the  war,  carried  on  a  constant  intercourse  with  our  other  ene- 
mies ;  and  they  came  down  to  Germantown  to  inquire  why  In- 
dians, known  to  be  enemies,  were  supported,  even  in  luxury,  with 


AGED    58.]  A   TEAK    OF   INTESTINE    COMMOTION".  447 

the  best  that  our  markets  afforded,  at  the  public  expense,  while 
they  were  left  in  the  utmost  distress  on  the  frontiers,  in  want  of 
the  necessaries  of  life.  *  *  *  However  this  matter  may  be  looked 
upon  in  Britain,  where  you  know  very  little  of  the  matter,  you 
may  be  assured  that  ninety-nine  in  a  hundred  of  the  province  are 
firmly  persuaded  that  they  are  maintaining  our  enemies,  while  our 
friends  back  are  suffering  the  greatest  extremities,  neglected  ;  and 
that  few  but  Quakers  think  that  the  Lancaster  Indians  have  suf- 
fered any  thing  but  their  just  deserts."* 

I  should  add,  by  way  of  palKating  the  iniquity  of  this  perversion, 
that  the  college  was  peculiarly  under  the  patronage  of  the  pro- 
prietary interest ;  while  the  liberal  party  made  it  a  point  of  cher- 
ishing the  hospital.  There  was  actually,  for  many  years,  a  party 
rivalry  with  regard  to  the  support  of  these  two  institutions,  in  con- 
sequence of  which  both  obtained  a  development  more  rapid  than 
unstimulated  generosity  would  have  given  them.  Dr.  Ewing,  as 
provisional  head  of  the  college,  was  necessarily  a  champion  of  the 
proprietary  party. 

During  the  heat  of  this  contest,  even  the  placid  Franklin  grew 
warm.  His  sharpest  satire  was  aimed  this  summer  at  the  unworthy 
conduct  of  the  Penns.  Mr.  John  Dickinson,  a  gentleman  of  great 
wealth,  worth,  and  mfluence,  a  member  of  the  late  Assembly,  was 
opposed  to  a  change  of  government,  and  published,  soon  after  the 
adjournment,  the  speech  he  had  delivered  in  the  Assembly  against 
the  petition  to  the  king.  To  this  speech  a  friend  of  the  orator  pre- 
fixed a  preface.  Mr.  Joseph  Galloway,  a  member  who  favored  a 
change,  and  who  was  a  city  candidate  for  re-election,  published  a 
speech  in  support  of  the  petition,  which  his  brother  candidate.  Dr. 
Franklin,  prefaced  with  a  withering  review  of  the  policy  of  the 
proprietaries.  This  preface  is  that  composition  of  Dr.  Franklin's 
in  which  his  satire  approaches  nearest  to  sarcasm.  He  lays  about 
him,  in  some  passages  of  this  extensive  preface,  with  splendid 
wrath,  his  eyes  flashing  fire,  and  his  rapier  gleaming  with  its  rapid 
flights.  Soon,  however,  he  relapses  into  good  humor  again,  and 
falls  to  poking  his  adversary  in  the  ribs. 

The  hardest  hit  of  all  is  the  passage  in  which  he  replies  to  that 
part  of  the  preface  of  Mr.  Dickinson's  speech,  in  which  a  party 

♦  Life  of  Joseph  Reed,  i.,  34. 


448  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.  [1764. 

advantage  was  sought  under  cover  of  an  extravagant  eulogy  of 
William  Penn.  The  Dickinson  prefacer  had  drawn  up  an  inscrip- 
tion for  an  imaginary  monument  to  the  founder  of  Pennsylvania, 
in  which  the  usual  lapidary  adjectives  were  most  lavishly  employed. 
Franklin  replied  to  this  passage  in  the  manner  following : 

"  Utterly  to  confound  the  Assembly,  and  show  the  excellence  of 
proprietary  government,  the  Prefacer  has  extracted  from  their 
own  votes,  the  praises  they  have  from  time  to  time  bestowed  on 
the  first  proprietor,  in  their  addresses  to  his  sons.  And,  though 
addresses  are  not  generally  the  best  repositories  of  historical  truth, 
we  must  not  in  this  instance  deny  their  authority. 

"  That  these  encomiums  on  the  father,  though  sincere,  have  occur- 
red so  frequently,  was  owing,  however,  to  two  causes :  first,  a  vain 
hope  the  assemblies  entertained,  that  the  father's  example,  and  the 
honors  done  his  character,  might  influence  the  conduct  of  the  sons ; 
secondly,  for  that,  in  attempting  to  compliment  the  sons  on  their 
own  merits,  there  was  always  found  an  extreme  scarcity  of  matter. 
Hence,  the  father^  the  honored  and  honorable  father^  was  so  often 
repeated,  that  the  sons  themselves  grew  sick  of  it,  and  have  been 
heard  to  say  to  each  other  with  disgust,  when  told  that  A,  B,  and 
C  were  come  to  wait  upon  them  with  addresses  on  some  public  oc- 
casion, ''Then  I  suppose  we  shall  hear  more  about  our  father. "* 
So  that,  let  me  tell  the  Prefacer,  who  perhaps  was  unacquainted 
with  this  anecdote,  that  if  he  hoped  to  curry  more  favor  with  the 
family,  by  the  inscription  he  has  framed  for  that  great  man's  monu- 
ment, he  may  find  himself  mistaken  ;  for  there  is  too  much  in  it  of 
our  father. 

"  If,  therefore,  he  would  erect  a  monument  to  the  sons,  the  votes 
of  the  Assembly,  which  are  of  such  credit  with  him,  will  furnish 
him  with  ample  materials  for  his  inspection.  To  save  him  trouble, 
I  will  essay  a  sketch  for  him,  in  the  lapidary  style,  though  mostly 
in  the  expressions,  and  everywhere  in  the  sense  and  spirit,  of  the 
Assembly's  resolves  and  messages. 

"  Be  this  a  Memorial 

Of  T andR P , 

P of  P ,* 

Who,  with  estates  immense, 

*  That  is,  Thomas  and  Eichard  Penn,  Proprietors  of  Pennsylvania. 


AGED    58.]      '        A    YEAR    OP   INTESTINE   COMMOTION.  449 

Almost  beyond  computation, 

When  their  own  province, 

And  the  whole  British  empire, 

Were  engaged  in  a  bloody  and  most  expensive  war, 

Begun  for  the  defense  of  those  estates, 

Could  yet  meanly  desire 

To  have  those  very  estates 

Totally  or  partially 

Exempted  from  taxation. 

While  their  fellow-subjects  all  around  them, 

Groaned 

Under  the  universal  burden. 

To  gain  this  point. 

They  refused  the  necessary  laws 

For  the  defense  of  their  people. 

And  suffered  their  colony  to  welter  in  its  blood, 

Rather  than  abate  in  the  least 

Of  these  their  dishonest  pretensions. 

The  privileges  granted  by  their  father, 

Wisely  and  benevolently 

To  encourage  the  first  settlers  to  the  province, 

They, 

Foolishly  and  cruelly, 

Taking  advantage  of  public  distress, 

Have  extorted  from  the  posterity  of  those  settlers  ; 

And  are  daily  endeavoring  to  reduce  them 

To  the  most  abject  slavery; 

Though  to  the  virtue  and  industry  of  those  people 

In  improving  their  country, 

They  owe  all  that  they  possess  and  enjoy. 

A  striking  instance 

Of  human  depravity  and  ingratitude ; 

And  an  irrefragable  proof, 

That  wisdom  and  goodness 

Do  not  descend  with  an  inheritance ; 

But  that  ineffable  meanness 

May  be  connected  with  unbounded  fortune." 

The  proprietary  brothers  had  not  long  to  wait  for  their  revenge. 


450  LIFE   AND   TIMES  OF   BENJAJillN   FEANKLIX.  [l^G4. 

October  was  at  hand.  Franklin  and  Galloway  were  candidates  for 
the  representation  of  the  city.  These  gentlemen  headed  what  was 
called  "  The  Old  Ticket,"  against  which  were  arrayed  the  Power, 
the  Ignorance,  and  the  Conservative  Timidity  of  the  province. 
We  chance  to  have  an  account  of  this  election,  written  at  the  time 
by  an  Old  Ticket  man,  which  transports  the  reader  back  to  the 
very  scene  and  period.  Colonial  times  have  handed  down  to  us 
few  memorials  of  so  much  interest  as  this  gossiping  letter  from 
Mr.  Pettit  of  Philadelphia,  to  his  young  friend  Reed,  then  a  law- 
student  in  London : 

"Our  late  election,  which  was  really  a  hard-fought  one,  was 
managed  with  more  decency  and  good  manners  than  would  have 
been  expected  from  such  irritated  partisans  as  appeared  as  the 
champions  on  each  side.  The  Dutch  Calvinists  and  the  Presbyte- 
rians of  both  Houses,  I  believe,  to  a  man  assisted  the  new  ticket. 
The  Church  were  divided  and  so  were  the  Dutch  Lutherans.  The 
Moravians  and  most  of  the  Quakers  were  the  grand  supporters  of 
the  old ;  the  McClenaghanites  were  divided,  though  chiefly  of  the 
old  side.  The  poll  was  opened  about  9  in  the  morning,  the  1st  of 
October,  and  the  steps  so  crowded,  till  between  11  and  12  at  night, 
that  at  no  time  a  person  could  get  up  in  less  than  a  quarter  of  an 
hour  from  his  entrance  at  the  bottom,  for  they  could  go  no  faster 
than  the  whole  column  moved.  About  3  in  the  morning,  the  advo- 
cates for  the  new  ticket  moved  for  a  close,  but  (O  !  fatal  mistake !) 
the  old  hands  kept  it  open,  as  they  had  a  reserve  of  the  aged  and 
lame,  which  could  not  come  in  the  crowd,  and  were  called  up  and 
brought  out  in  chairs  and  litters,  and  some  who  needed  no  help, 
between  3  and  6  o'clock,  about  200  voters.  As  both  sides  took 
care  to  have  spies  all  night,  the  alarm  was  given  to  the  new  ticket 
men  ;  horsemen  and  footmen  were  immediately  dispatched  to  Ger- 
mantown,  and  elsewhere;  and  by  9  or  10  o'clock  they  began  to 
pour  in,  so  that  after  the  move  for  a  close,  7  or  800  votes  were  pro- 
cured ;  about  500  or  near  it  of  which  were  for  the  new  ticket,  and 
they  did  not  close  till  3  in  the  afternoon,  and  it  took  tliem  till  1 
next  day  to  count  them  ofi". 

"  The  new  ticket  carried  all  but  Harrison  and  Antis,  and  Fox  and 
Hughes  came  in  their  room ;  but  it  is  surprising  that  from  upwards 
of  3,900  votes,  they  should  be  so  near  each  other.  Mr.  Willing  and 
Mr.  Bryan  were  elected  Burgesses  by  a  majority  of  upwards  of 


AGED    58.]  A   YEAR    OF    INTESTI^TE   COMMOTION.  451 

100  votes,  though  the  whole  number  was  but  about  1,300.  Mr. 
Franklin  died  like  a  philosopher.  But  Mr.  Galloway  agonized  in 
Deaths  like  a  Mortal  Deist,  who  has  no  Hopes  of  a  Future  Exist- 
ence. The  other  Counties  returned  nearly  the  same  members  who 
had  served  them  before,  so  that  the  old  faction  have  still  consider- 
able majority  in  the  House.  *  *  A  number  of  squibs,  quarters,  and 
half  sheets,  were  thrown  among  the  populace  on  the  day  of  elec- 
tion, some  so  copious  as  to  aim  at  the  general  dispute,  and  others, 
more  confined,  to  Mr.  Dickinson  and  Mr.  Galloway,  with  now  and 
tlien  a  skit  at  the  Doctor,  but  these  had  little  or  no  effect."* 

So  Franklin  and  Galloway  were  defeated.  In  a  vote  of  nearly 
four  thousand,  there  was  a  majority  against  Dr.  Franklin  of  twenty- 
five. 

The  new  Assembly  met  a  few  days  after  the  election.  The  strife 
was  instantly  renewed.  The  liberal  party,  as  Mr.  Pettit  has  told 
us,  were  still  in  a  majority  in  the  House,  and  that  majority  was  not 
disposed  to  permit  its  champion  to  be  crushed.  The  appointment 
of  Dr.  Franklin  to  the  ofiSce  of  agent  of  the  Assembly  was  propos- 
ed, that  he  rriight  himself  manage  the  affair  of  the  petition  to  the 
king,  and  convey  to  the  ministry  in  England  the  sense  of  the  As- 
sembly with  regard  to  the  proposed  stamp  act.  The  proprietary 
party  in  the  Assembly  strove  to  prevent  his  appointment,  and  Mr. 
Dickinson  declaimed  against  it  with  much  energy. 

"  N'o  measure,"  said  Mr.  Dickinson,  *'  which  this  House  can  pur- 
sue, will  be  so  likely  to  inflame  the  resentments,  increase  the  divisions, 
and  embitter  the  discontents  of  the  people  we  represent.  *  *  I 
appeal  to  the  heart  of  every  member  for  the  truth  of  this  assertion, 
that  no  man  in  Pennsylvania  is  at  this  time  so  much  the  object  of 
the  pubhc  dislike,  as  he  that  has  been  mentioned.  To  what  a  sur- 
prising height  this  dislike  is  carried  among  vast  numbers  I  do  not 
choose  to  repeat.  The  well-known  fact  sufiSciently  supports  the 
present  objection  against  him.  Though  but  a  few  hours  have  elaps- 
ed since  he  was  first  proposed  as  an  agent  in  the  House,  yet  already 
we  see  remonstrances  against  his  appointment  from  several  hundreds 
of  our  most  reputable  constituents  laid  on  the  table,  and  we  are 
afraid,  that,  if  a  little  time  was  allowed,  thousands  would  crowd  to 
present  the  like  testimony  against  him.     Why  then  should  a  raa- 

*  "Life  of  Joseph  Pweed,"  i.,  87. 


452  LIFE    AND   naiES    OP    BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1764. 

jority  of  this  House  single  out  from  the  whole  world  the  man  most 
obnoxious  to  his  country,  to  represent  his  country,  though  he  was 
at  the  last  election  turned  out  of  the  Assembly,  where  he  had  sat 
for  fourteen  years?  Why  should  they  exert  their  power  in  the 
most  disgusting  manner,  and  throw  pain,  terror,  and  displeasure 
into  the  breasts  of  their  fellow-citizens  ?  *  *  Since  the  zeal  of 
his  friends  will  not  suffer  them  to  regard  her  tranquillity,  more 
worthy  of  the  trust  intended  him  would  he  appear,  in  the  eyes  of 
many  good  men,  should  he  voluntarily  decline  an  office,  which  he 
cannot  accept,  without  alarming,  offending,  and  disturbing  his 
country.  *  *  Aristides  submitted  to  the  voice  of  Athens,  and 
contented  himself  with  wishing  that  she  might  never  repent  her 
sentence  against  him.  When  Roman  virtue  was  swiftly  waning, 
the  dissolute  Otho  still  retained  so  large  a  share  as  voluntarily  to 
resign  a  life  and  an  empire,  that  could  not  be  preserved  without 
misfortunes  to  Rome.  Much  are  they  mistaken,  who  think  no  man 
can  serve  a  state,  but  in  the  glare  of  office.  *  *  How  many 
men  have  greatly  promoted  the  public  interests  by  their  counsels 
and  writings  !  The  gentleman  proposed  has  been  called  here  to-day 
*  a  great  luminary  of  the  learned  world.'  I  acknowledge  his  abili- 
ties. Far  be  it  from  me  to  detract  from  the  merit  I  admire.  Let 
him  still  shine,  but  without  wrapping  his  country  in  flames.  Let 
him,  from  a  private  station,  from  a  smaller  sphere,  diffuse,  as  I  think 
he  may,  a  beneficial  light ;  but  let  him  not  be  made  to  move  and 
blaze  like  a  comet  to  terrify  and  to  distress." 

Mr.  Dickinson's  eloquence  was  ineffectual.  Dr.  Franklin  was 
elected  agent,  and  he  accepted  the  trust.  The  proprietary  party 
drew  up  a  protest  against  the  act  of  the  majority,  and  asked  that  it 
might  be  inserted  in  the  minutes.  The  House  rejected  the  proposal. 
The  protest  having  been  printed  in  the  newspapers,  Dr.  Franklin 
published  some  "  remarks"  on  that  production,  which  were  exceed- 
ingly spirited.     A  few  of  his  leading  points  I  will  transcribe. 

The  protesters  accused  him  of  being  the  chief  author  of  the  recent 
measures  of  the  Assembly,  "  which  have  occasioned  such  uneasiness 
and  distraction  among  the  good  people  of  this  province."  No,  re- 
plied Franklin  ;  it  was  the  uneasiness  and  distraction  among  the 
people,  which  occasioned  the  measures ;  and  proprietary  injustice 
was  the  cause  of  that  uneasiness  and  distraction. 

The  protesters  said  that  Dr.  Franklin  was  ill  esteemed  by  sev- 


AGED    58.]  A   YEAR    OF   INTESTINE   COMMOTION.  453 

eral  of  his  Majesty's  ministers,  and  therefore  not  likely  to  procure 
from  them  concessions  to  the  province.  "  I  apprehend,"  he  replied, 
"that  your  informer  is  mistaken.  *  *  If,  indeed,  I  had,  by 
speeches  and  writing,  endeavored  to  make  his  Majesty's  government 
universally  odious  in  the  province  ;  if  I  had  harangued  by  the  week, 
to  all  comers  and  goers,  on  the  pretended  injustice  and  oppressions 
of  royal  government,  and  the  slavery  of  the  people  under  it ;  if  I 
had  written  traitorous  papers  to  this  purpose,  and  got  them  trans- 
lated into  other  languages,  to  give  his  Majesty's  foreign  subjects 
here  those  horrible  ideas  of  it ;  if  I  had  declared,  written,  and  print- 
ed, that  '  the  king's  little  finger  we  should  find  heavier  than  the 
proprietor's  whole  loins,'  with  regard  to  our  liberties ;  then,  indeed, 
might  the  ministers  be  supposed  to  think  unfavorably  of  me.  But 
these  are  not  exploits  for  a  man  who  holds  a  profitable  ofiice  under 
the  crown,  and  can  expect  to  hold  it  no  longer  than  he  behaves 
with  the  fidelity  and  duty  that  becomes  every  good  subject.  They 
are  only  for  officers  of  proprietary  appointment,  who  hold  their 
commissions  during  his,  and  not  the  king's,  pleasure." 

The  protesters  further  observed,  that  the  proposal  of  Dr.  Frank- 
lin for  agent,  "  was  extremely  disagreeable  to  a  very  great  number 
of  the  most  serious  and  reputable  inhabitants  of  the  province ;  and 
the  proof  was,  his  having  been  rejected  at  the  last  election,  though 
he  had  represented  the  city  in  Assembly  for  fourteen  years."  To  this 
he  made  a  very  energetic  reply  :  "  And  do  you,  gentlemen,  reproach 
me  with  this,  who,  among  near  four  thousand  voters,  had  scarcely 
a  score  more  than  I  had  ?  *  *  It  is  known  to  the  persons  who 
proposed  me,  that  I  was  first  chosen  against  my  inclination,  and 
against  my  entreaties  that  I  might  be  suffered  to  remain  a  private 
man.  In  none  of  the  fourteen  elections  you  mention,  did  I  ever 
appear  as  a  candidate.  I  never  did,  directly  or  indirectly,  solicit 
any  man's  votes.  For  six  of  the  years  in  which  I  Avas  annually 
chosen,  I  was  absent,  residing  in  England ;  during  all  which  time 
your  secret  and  open  attacks  upon  my  character  and  reputation 
were  incessant ;  and  yet  you  gained  no  ground.  And  can  you  re- 
ally, gentlemen,  find  matter  of  triumph  in  this  rejection,  as  you  call 
it  ?  A  moment's  reffection  on  the  means  by  which  it  was  obtained, 
must  make  you  ashamed  of  it. 

"  Not  only  my  duty  to  the  crown,  in  carrying  the  post-office  act 
more  duly  into  execution,  was  made  use  of  to  exasperate  the  igno- 


454  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1764. 

rant,  as  if  I  was  increasing  my  own  profits  by  picking  their  pock- 
ets ;  but  my  very  zeal  in  opposing  the  murderers,  and  supporting 
the  authority  of  government,  and  even  my  humanity  with  regard 
to  the  innocent  Indians  under  our  protection,  were  mustered  among 
my  offenses,  to  stir  up  against  me  those  religious  bigots,  who  are, 
of  all  savages,  the  most  brutish.  Add  to  this,  the  numberless  false- 
hoods propagated  as  truths;  and  the  many  perjuries  procured 
among  the  wretched  rabble,  brought  to  swear  themselves  entitled 
to  a  vote  ;  and  yet  so  poor  a  superiority  obtained  at  all  this  expense 
of  honor  and  conscience !  Can  this,  gentlemen,  be  matter  of  tri- 
umph ?     Enjoy  it,  then.     Your  exultation,  however,  was  short. 

"Your  artifices  did  not  prevail  everywhere;  nor  your  double 
tickets,  and  whole  boxes  of  forged  votes.  A  great  majority  of  the 
new-chosen  Assembly  were  of  the  old  members,  and  remain  uncor- 
rupted.  They  still  stood  firm  for  the  people,  and  will  obtain  justice 
from  the  proprietaries.  But  what  does  that  avail  to  you,  who  are 
in  the  proprietary  interest  ?  And  what  comfort  can  it  afford  you, 
when,  by  the  Assembly's  choice  of  an  agent,  it  appears  that  the 
same,  to  you  obnoxious,  man  (notwithstanding  all  your  venomous 
invectives  against  him)  still  retains  so  great  a  share  of  the  public 
confidence  ?" 

The  protesters  accused  him,  also,  of  having  "  a  fixed  enmity  to 
the  proprietaries."  He  denied  the  charge.  "  Why  do  you  think," 
he  asked,  "  that  I  have  a  fixed  enmity  to  the  proprietaries  ?  I  have 
never  had  any  personal  difference  with  them.  I  am  no  land-jobber, 
and,  therefore,  have  never  had  any  thing  to  do  with  their  land  of- 
fice or  ofiicers ;  if  I  had,  probably,  like  others,  I  might  have  been 
obliged  to  truckle  to  their  measures,  or  have  had  like  causes  of  com- 
plaint. But  our  private  interests  never  clashed ;  and  all  their  re- 
sentment against  me,  and  mine  to  them,  has  been  on  the  public  ac- 
count. Let  them  do  justice  to  the  people  of  Pennsylvania,  act  hon- 
orably by  the  citizens  of  Philadelphia,  and  become  honest  men; 
my  enmity,  if  that's  of  any  consequence,  ceases  from  the  *very 
moment,'  and,  as  soon  as  I  possibly  can,  I  promise  to  love,  honor, 
and  respect  them." 

And  so  he  proceeded,  in  many  a  glowing  page,  to  refute  the 
calumnies  of  his  political  enemies.  "  I  am  now,"  he  concluded,  "  to 
take  leave  (perhaps  a  last  leave)  of  the  country  I  love,  and  in  which 
I  have  spent  the  greatest  part  of  my  life.     Esto  perpetua.    I  wish 


AGED    58.]  A    YEAR   OP   INTESTINE   COM^IOTION.  455 

every  kind  of  prosperity  to  my  friends ;  and  I  forgive  my  ene- 
mies." 

He  began  immediately  to  prepare  for  his  departure,  and  was  the 
sooner  ready  that  he  expected  to  be  at  home  again  at  the  end  of 
the  following  summer.  The  colonial  treasury  being  empty,  a  loan 
was  authorized  for  the  purpose  of  raising  money  for  his  expenses ; 
and  the  capitalists  of  the  city,  in  a  few  hours,  subscribed  eleven 
hundred  pounds ;  of  which,  however,  he  would  take  but  five  hun- 
dred. On  the  seventh  of  ISTovember,  1764,  twelve  days  after  his 
election  as  agent,  he  bade  farewell  to  his  family,  and  left  Philadel- 
phia. The  ship  in  which  he  was  to  embark  lying  at  Chester, 
fifteen  miles  below  the  city,  he  was  escorted  thither  by  three  hun- 
dred citizens  on  horseback.  He  sent  back  to  his  daughter,  from  the 
lower  Delaware,  a  touching  letter  of  advice  and  farewell,  com- 
mending her  mother  to  her  care  and  tenderness,  and  warning  her 
to  be  circumspect  in  her  behavior,  because  his  enemies  would  watch 
her  closely,  and  judge  her  harshly.  "  Go  constantly  to  church,"  he 
added,  "  whoever  preaches ;"  a  piece  of  advice  which  was  neces- 
sary, as  the  rector  of  Christ  Church  was  such  an  intense  partisan 
of  the  proprietaries,  and  so  bitter  a  foe  of  Franklin,  that  his  daugh- 
ter had  expressed  an  unwillingness  to  frequent  the  church.  "  The 
act  of  devotion,"  he  continued,  "  in  the  Common  Prayer  Book,  is 
your  principal  business  there,  and,  if  properly  attended  to,  will  do 
more  towards  amending  the  heart  than  sermons  generally  can  do. 
For  they  were  composed  by  men  of  much  greater  piety  and  wis- 
dom than  our  common  composers  of  sermons  can  pretend  to  be ; 
and,  therefore,  I  wish  you  would  never  miss  the  prayer  days  ;  yet 
I  do  not  mean  you  should  despise  sermons,  even  of  the  preachers 
you  dislike  ;  for  the  discourse  is  often  much  better  than  the  man,  as 
sweet  and  clear  waters  come  through  very  dirty  earth." 

A  rough  passage  of  thirty  days  brought  him  again  in  sight  of  the 
white  cliffs  of  Albion.  On  reaching  London,  he  was  at  once  estab- 
hshed,  to  the  delight  of  Mrs.  Stevenson  and  her  daughter,  in  his 
old  lodgings  in  Craven  Street.  One  of  the  first  letters  he  received 
in  England  from  Philadelphia,  contained  this  passage  :  "  A  vessel 
from  Ireland  to  I^ew  York  brought  us  the  most  agreeable  news  of 
your  arrival  in  London,  which  occasioned  a  great  and  general  joy 
in  Pennsylvania  among  those  whose  esteem  an  honest  man  would 
value  most.     The  bells  rang  on  that  account  till  near  midnight,  and 


45 G  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1764. 

libations  were  poured  out  for  your  health,  success,  and  every  other 
happiness.  Even  your  old  friend  Hugh  Roberts  stayed  with  us  till 
eleven  o'clock,  which  you  know  was  a  little  out  of  his  common  road, 
and  gave  us  many  curious  anecdotes  within  the  compass  of  your 
forty  years'  acquaintance."* 

*  Cadwalader  Evans  to  Dr.  Franklin.    Sparks,  vii.,  288. 


PART  IV. 

REPRESENTATIVE  OF  THE  THIRTEEN  COLONIES  AT 
LONDON. 


PART     IV 


CHAPTER  I. 

THE    STAMP    ACT   PASSED. 

It  was  in  the  evening  of  the  tenth  of  December,  1764,  that  the 
agent  of  Pennsylvania  arrived  in  London.  The  impending,  the  in. 
evitable.  Stamp  Act,  he  soon  found,  was  the  absorbing  topic  with 
the  colonial  agents ;  with  whom  he  was  often  in  consultation  dur- 
ing the  next  few  weeks.  By  every  means  his  ingenuity  could 
suggest.  Dr.  Franklin  sought  to  prevent  the  introduction  of  a  meas- 
ure, which  proved,  to  use  his  own  language,  "  the  mother  of 
mischiefs."  He  was  powerless.  The  conferring  agents  could  devise 
nothing,  except  to  ask  an  interview  with  Mr.  George  Grenville,  the 
head  of  the  administration,  who  had  pledged  his  word  to  parliament 
to  bring  in  a  bill  for  taxing  the  colonies.  The  minister  consented 
to  see  them,  and  on  the  second  of  February,  1765,  the  agents,  four 
in  number,  met  at  his  office. 

Mr.  Grenville  received  them  with  official,  with  Grenvillian  polite 
ness.  He  was  an  able  man  of  business,  an  honest  statesman,  and 
singularly  devoted  to  the  duties  of  his  place.  "  He  took  public  duty," 
remarks  Mr.  Burke,  "  not  as  a  duty  which  he  was  to  fulfill,  but 
as  a  pleasure  he  was  to  enjoy."  "  But  with  no  small  study  of  de- 
tail, he  did  not  seem  to  have  his  view  carried  to  the  total  circuit  oi 
our  affairs."  It  has  been  remarked  of  his  family,  even  in  recent 
generations,  that  they  are,  at  once,  guileless  and  reserved,  and  both  in 
an  uncommon  degree.  Mr,  Grenville  listened  patiently  on  this  occa- 
sion to  the  arguments  of  the  American  agents,  who  urged  their 
well-worn  plea,  that  if  the  colonies  were  to  be  taxed,  the  tax  should 
be  imposed  by  their  own  parliaments,  not  the  parliament  of  Great 
Britain,  in  which  they  were  not  represented,  and  which  knew  not 
their  ability  nor  their  burdens. 

Mr.  Grenville  said,  as  he  had  said  in  substance  a  year  before : 


460  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.  [l'765. 

"  I  take  no  pleasure  in  bringing  upon  myself  colonial  resentments. 
It  is  the  duty  of  my  office  to  manage  the  revenue.  I  have  really 
been  made  to  believe  that,  considering  the  whole  circumstances  of 
the  mother  country  and  the  colonies,  the  latter  can  and  ought  to 
pay  something  to  the  common  cause.  I  know  of  no  better  way 
than  that  now  pursuing  to  lay  such  a  tax.  If  you  can  tell  me  of  a 
better,  I  will  adopt  it." 

Dr.  Franklin  spoke.  He  reminded  the  minister  of  the  ancient 
mode  of  raising  supplies  in  the  colonies  for  the  service  of  the  king, 
a  mode  which  had  always  proved  effectual.  He  placed  in  Mr.  Gren- 
ville's  hands  the  resolution  unanimously  passed  by  the  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania,  in  the  summer  of  1764,  pledging  that  province  to  do 
all  that  it  could  to  aid  the  king  whenever  the  king  should  ask  aid 
in  the  usual  and  constitutional  manner. 

Mr.  Grenville  then  asked  a  question  which  shovred  that  he  did 
not,  or  would  not,  understand  Dr.  Franklin.  His  question,  how- 
ever, seems  for  a  moment  to  have  nonplused  the  agents.  "  Can 
you  agree,"  he  asked,  "  on  the  proportion  each  colony  should 
raise  ?"  They  were  obliged  to  admit  that  they  could  not.  The 
minister  pursuing  his  advantage  said,  that  the  stamp  duty  would 
adjust  itself  both  to  the  present  wealth  and  future  increase  of  the 
colonies.  It  would  be,  he  thought,  at  all  times  and  in  all  places,  a 
fair  and  equal  tax.  Upon  this,  the  Americans  returned  to  their 
main  position,  and  pointed  out  the  danger  to  the  liberties  of  the 
colonies  which  would  arise  from  their  being  taxed  by  a  distant 
body  in  which  they  had  no  representative  to  explain  their  circum- 
stances, or  plead  tlieir  cause.  If  parliament  could  impose  taxes 
upon  them,  they  feared  that  the  colonial  assemblies  would  decline 
in  importance  and  soon  cease  to  be  called  together. 

"  No  such  thing  is  intended,"  replied  Mr.  Grenville.  "  I  have 
pledged  my  word  for  offering  the  stamp  bill  to  the  House,  and  I 
cannot  forego  it :  they  will  hear  all  objections,  and  do  as  they 
please.  I  wish  you  may  preserve  moderation  in  America.  Resent- 
ments indecently  expressed  on  one  side  of  the  water  will  naturally 
produce  resentments  on  the  other.  You  cannot  hope  to  get  any 
good  by  a  controversy  with  the  mother  country.  With  respect  to 
this  bill,  her  ears  will  always  be  open  to  every  remonstrance  express- 
ed in  a  becoming  manner."* 

*  Bancroft's  "  History  of  the  United  States,"  v.,  230. 


AGED    59.]  THE   STAMP   ACT  PASSED.  461 

The  Americans  then  withdrew.  The  bill  was  introduced  into 
parliament,  and  passed  by  a  very  great  majority  a  few  weeks 
after.  In  the  House  of  Commons  there  were  only  fifty  voices 
against  it,  and  in  the  House  of  Lords  there  appears  to  have  been 
no  division  on  the  question.  The  king  scrawled  his  signatm-e  to 
the  bill  when  he  was  suffering  under  his  first  attack  of  insanity. 
Not  a  man  in  England,  not  Franklin,  foresaw  either  the  immediate 
or  the  remote  consequences  of  the  act.  Englishmen  were  deceived 
by  the  smallness  of  the  amount  proposed  to  be  raised  by  the  stamp 
duty.  Englishmen  have  made  sublime  sacrifices  to  principle,  but 
they  appear  slow  to  believe  that  any  other  people  can.  The  sum 
expected  to  result  from  the  stamp  duty  was  a  hundred  thousand 
pounds  a  year,  which  it  was  supposed  America  would  grumble  at 
for  a  while,  but  never  think  of  resisting.  Franklin  evidently  shared 
this  opinion.  He  wrote  to  a  friend  in  Philadelphia  a  few  weeks 
after  the  passage  of  the  act :  ""  I  took  every  step  in  my  power  to 
prevent  the  passing  of  the  Stamp  Act.  But  the  tide  was  too  strong 
against  us.  The  nation  was  provoked  by  American  claims  of 
legislative  independence,  and  all  parties  joined  in  resolving  by  this 
act  to  settle  the  point.  We  might  as  well  have  hindered  the  sun's 
setting.  That  we  could  not  do.  But  since  it  is  down,  my  friend, 
and  it  maybe  long  before  it  rises  again, let  us  make  as  good  anight 
of  it  as  we  can.  We  may  still  light  candles.  Frugality  and  in- 
dustry will  go  a  great  way  towards  indemnifying  us.  Idleness 
and  pride  tax  with  a  heavier  hand  than  kings  and  parliaments." 

This  plainly  shows  that  Franklin  did  not  anticipate  nor  desire 
the  resistance  of  his  countrymen  to  the  act.  If  his  advice  had  been 
asked,  he  might  have  urged  an  agitation  for  repeal,  but  he  certainly 
Avould  have  counseled  strict  submission.  Soon  after  the  passage 
of  the  act,  Dr.  Franklin,  in  taking  leave  of  an  American  friend, 
said,  "  Go  home  and  tell  your  countrymen  to  get  children  as  fast 
as  they  can."  We  are  not  yet  strong  enough  to  resist. 

From  our  earliest  childhood  we  have  all  been  in  the  habit  of 
hearing  and  reading  about  this  terrible  stamp  act,  but,  probably, 
few  of  the  readers  of  these  pages  have  ever  seen  it,  or  are  ac- 
quainted with  its  provisions.  The  act  was  curiously  adapted  to 
puzzle  and  disgust  a  people  accustomed  to  simple  modes  of  proce- 
dure. It  contained  fifty-five  articles,  and  imposed  taxes  on  fifty-foui- 
classes  of  objects.     It  laid  a  tax  of  threepence  upon  every  piece  oi 


462  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1765. 

parchment  or  paper  on  which  should  be  printed  or  written  a  legal 
declaration,  plea,  replication,  rejoinder,  demurrer,  or  other  pleading 
usual  in  any  common  court  of  the  colonies.  Upon  a  special  bail 
bond,  the  duty  was  two  shillings.  Upon  any  chancery  pleading, 
one  shilling  and  sixpence.  Upon  each  copy  of  the  same,  threepenco. 
Upon  every  document  relating  to  proceedings  in  ecclesiastical 
courts,  one  shilling.  Copy  of  the  same,  sixpence.  Upon  every 
presentment  to  a  benefice,  two  pounds.  Upon  a  college  degree, 
two  pounds.  Upon  admiralty  court  documents,  one  shilling. 
Copies,  sixpence.  Upon  appeals,  writs  of  error,  and  similar  papers, 
ten  shillings.  Upon  various  other  writs,  no  longer  in  use,  five 
shillings.  Upon  judgments  and  decrees  of  court,  four  shillings. 
Upon  a  common  affidavit,  summons,  or  subpoena,  one  shilling. 
Bill  of  lading,  fourpence.  Letters  of  marque,  one  pound.  Upon 
an  appointment  to  an  office  worth  twenty  pounds  a  year,  ten  shil- 
lings; if  worth  more  than  twenty  pounds  a  year,  four  pounds. 
Upon  every  grant  or  privilege  bearing  the  seal  or  sign  manual  of  a 
governor,  six  pounds.  Liquor  licenses,  four  pounds.  Wine 
licenses,  four  pounds.  A  license  to  sell  both  wine  and  liquor, 
three  pounds.  Letters  of  administration,  five  shillings.  Bond  to 
secure  payment  of  ten  pounds  or  less,  sixpence ;  twenty  pounds, 
one  shilling ;  forty  pounds,  one  shilling  and  sixpence.  Warrant  for 
surveying  one  hundred  acres  of  land,  sixpence ;  two  hundred  acres, 
one  shilling ;  three  hundred  and  twenty  acres,  one  shilling  and  six 
pence.  Deeds  and  conveyances,  from  one  shilling  and  six  pence  to 
five  shillings.  Leases,  contracts  and  covenants,  two  shillings  and 
sixpence.  Warrant  for  auditing  a  public  account,  five  shillings. 
Mortgage,  two  shillings  and  threepence.  Pack  of  cards,  one  shil- 
ling. Pair  of  dice,  ten  shillings.  Newspaper  on  half  a  sheet  of 
paper,  one  half  penny ;  whole  sheet,  one  penny.  Pamphlets  equal 
to  six  sheets  octavo,  one  shilling.  Advertisements,  two  shillings 
each.  Almanacs,  twopence.  Translations  of  any  document,  twice 
the  duty  charged  upon  the  original.  Upon  premiums  paid  by 
apprentices  for  learning  their  trade,  sixpence  in  the  pound,  if  the 
premium  did  not  exceed  fifty  pounds ;  if  more  than  fifty  pounds,  one 
shining  in  the  pound. 

The  act  concluded  with  a  novel  and  vague  provision  as  follows : 
"  Finally,  the  produce  of  all  the  above-mentioned  duties  shall  be 
paid  into  his  Majesty's  treasury ;  and  there  held  in  reserve  to  be 


AGED    59.]  THE    STAMP   ACT   PASSED.  463 

used  from  time  to  time  by  the  parliament,  for  the  purpose  of  do- 
fraying  the  expense  necessary  for  the  defense,  protection,  and  secu- 
rity of  the  said  colonies  and  plantations." 

Such  was  the  nature  of  the  wedge  that  rent  an  empire  asunder. 

A  few  days  after  the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act,  the  colonial  agents 
were  summoned  to  Mr.  Grenville's  office  by  a  circular  note  from  the 
minister's  protege  and  secretary,  Mr.  William  Whately.  The  great 
man  did  not  appear  on  this  occasion  ;  his  desires  being  made  known 
to  the  agents  by  his  secretary.  "What  transpired  at  this  meeting,  has 
been  made  the  occasion  of  calumnies  against  Dr.  Franklin,  which,  to 
this  day,  are  sometimes  repeated  in  print.  He  has  himself  related 
the  particulars  of  the  interview : 

"  Mr.  Whately  acquainted  us  that  Mr.  Grenville  was  desirous 
to  make  the  execution  of  the  act  as  little  inconvenient  and  disagree- 
able to  America  as  possible ;  and  therefoi-e  did  not  think  of  sending 
stamp  officers  from  this  country,  but  wished  to  have  discreet  and 
reputable  persons  appointed  in  each  province  from  among  the  in- 
habitants, such  as  would  be  acceptable  to  them ;  for,  as  they  were 
to  pay  the  tax,  he  thought  strangers  should  not  have  the  emolu- 
ment. Mr.  Whately  therefore  wished  us  to  name  for  our  respective 
colonies,  informing  us  that  Mr.  Grenville  would  be  obliged  to  us  for 
pointing  out  to  him  honest  and  responsible  men,  and  would  pay 
great  regard  to  our  nominations.  By  this  plausible  and  apparently 
candid  declaration,  w^e  were  drawn  in  to  nominate;  and  I  named 
for  our  province,  Mr.  (John)  Hughes,  saying,  at  the  same  time,  that 
I  knew  not  whether  he  would  accept  it,  but  if  he  did,  I  was  sure 
he  would  execute  the  office  faithfully.  I  soon  after  had  notice  of 
his  appointment.  We  none  of  us,  I  believe,  foresaw  or  imagined 
that  this  compliance  with  the  request  of  the  minister  would  or 
could  have  been  called  an  application  of  ours,  and  adduced  as  a 
proof  of  our  approbation  of  the  act  we  had  been  opposing ;  other- 
wise I  think  few  of  us  would  have  named  at  all ;  I  am  sure  I  should 
not."* 

Mr.  John  Hughes,  thus  recommended  to  ministerial  favor,  was  an 
old  friend  of  Dr.  Franklin's,  a  respectable  merchant  of  Philadelphia, 
and  a  member  of  the  Assembly. 

The  affair  of  the  Stamp  Act  over.  Dr.  Franklin  had  leisure  to  at- 

*  Franklin  to  Dean  Tucker,  1774.    Sparks,  iv.,  122. 


464  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l765. 

tend  to  the  other  business  of  his  agency,  the  deliverance  of  Pennsyl- 
vania from  the  incubus  of  the  Penns.  In  order  to  remove  a  trouble- 
some topic  from  the  path  of  our  narrative,  we  may  as  well  state  at 
once,  that  the  petition  to  the  king  for  a  change  of  government  in 
Pennsylvania  came  to  nothing.  Franklin  presented  it,  and  the  As- 
sembly six  times  renewed  their  efforts  to  get  it  acted  upon.  The 
Penns  opposed  it  with  all  their  power  and  all  their  art.  But  from 
1765,  when  the  petition  was  presented,  to  1775,  when  the  revolu- 
tion began,  there  was  never  an  interval  of  tranquillity  long  enough 
to  bring  so  difficult  an  affair  to  a  conclusion.  When  the  final  dis- 
ruption occurred,  the  Penns,  being  still  in  possession  of  the  prov- 
ince, contrived  to  sell  what  they  could  no  longer  retain.  The  State 
of  Pennsylvania  voted  them  one  hundred  and  thirty  thousand 
pounds  sterling,  and  the  British  government  settled  upon  the  head 
of  the  family  a  pension  of  four  thousand  pounds  a  year.  They 
deemed  the  price  much  too  small,  but  they,  nevertheless,  deigned  to 
accept  it,  and  Pennsylvania  was  rid  of  them  forever. 

Soon  after  midsummer,  the  news  of  the  effect  upon  America  of 
the  passage  of  the  Stamp  Act  began  to  arrive  in  England.  Every 
ship  brought  new  proofs  of  the  extent  and  intensity  of  the  opposi- 
tion to  it.  And  yet,  at  first,  there  was  a  method  in  the  general  mad- 
ness. The  resolves  passed  unanimously,  at  every  meeting,  to  con- 
sume no  more  British  manufactures  until  the  hateful  act  was  re- 
pealed, to  wear  homespun,  to  eat  no  lamb,  to  suppress  the 
ostentatious  mourning  at  funerals,  to  live  with  the  ancient  frugal- 
ity, were  moderate  and  legitimate  modes  of  agitation.  But  when, 
later  in  the  summer,  the  commissions  arrived  from  England  for 
the  persons  appointed  in  each  colony  to  distribute  the  stamped 
paper,  then  the  popular  fury  had  personal  objects  upon  which  to 
concentrate  and  expend  itself.  Mr.  John  Hughes  became  instantly 
the  most  odious  man  in  Pennsylvania.  Those  bells  that  had  lately 
rung  out  a  joyful  peal  to  celebrate  Dr.  Franklin's  safe  arrival  in 
England  were  muffled,  and  heavily  tolled,  to  express  the  popular 
execration  of  one  of  the  first  of  his  official  acts.  The  house  of  the 
innocent  and  luckless  Hughes,  being  threatened  with  attack,  was 
guarded  night  and  day,  and  before  the  time  came  for  the  act  to 
take  effect,  he  was  forced  to  resign  his  office. 

The  political  enemies  of  Dr.  Franklin  saw  their  opportunity,  and 
improved  it.     Among  other  adverse  publications,  a  rude  caricature 


AGED    59.]  THE    STAMP   ACT  PASSED.  465 

appeared,  representing  the  Devil  whispering  in  Franklin's  ear, 
"  Thee  shall  be  agent,  Ben,  for  all  my  dominions,"  and  bearing  this 
stanza : 

"  All  his  designs  concenter  in  himself. 
For  building  castles  and  amassing  pelf. 
The  public  'tis  his  wit  to  sell  for  gain, 
Whom  private  property  did  ne'er  maintain." 

At  one  time,  the  new  house  which  Mrs.  Franklin  had  built  in  her 
husband's  absence,  and  into  which  she  had  just  removed,  was  sup- 
posed to  be  in  danger  from  the  mob.  Governor  Franklin  hurried 
from  his  province  to  Philadelphia,  and  entreated  the  inmates  of  his 
father's  house  to  take  refuge  in  his  own  at  Burlington.  The  brave 
Mrs.  Franklin  would  not  budge,  though  she  permitted  her  daugh- 
ter to  go.  "  I  was  for  nine  days,"  she  wrote  to  her  husband,  "  kept 
in  a  continual  hurry  by  people  to  remove,  and  Sally  was  persuaded 
to  go  to  Burlington  for  safety.  Cousin  Davenport  came  and  told 
me  that  more  than  twenty  people  had  told  him  it  was  his  duty  to 
be  with  me.  I  said  I  was  pleased  to  receive  civility  from  anybody, 
so  he  staid  with  me  some  time ;  towards  night  I  said  he  should 
fetch  a  gun  or  two,  as  we  had  none.  I  sent  to  ask  my  brother  to 
come  and  bring  his  gun  also,  so  we  turned  one  room  into  a  maga- 
zine ;  I  ordered  some  sort  of  defense  up  stairs,  such  as  I  could  man- 
age myself  I  said,  when  I  was  advised  to  remove,  that  I  was  very 
sure  you  had  done  nothing  to  hurt  anybody,  nor  had  I  given  any 
offense  to  any  person  at  all,  nor  would  I  be  made  uneasy  by  any- 
body, nor  would  I  stir  or  show  the  least  uneasiness,  but  if  any  one 
came  to  disturb  me  I  would  show  a  proper  resentment.  I  was  told 
that  there  were  eight  hundred  men  ready  to  assist  any  one  that 
should  be  molested." 

When  the  excitement  subsided,  "Cousin  Davenport,"  it  seems, 
gave  a  report  of  the  tumult  to  Jane  Mecom,  which  "amazed"  that 
good  lady  "  beyond  measure."  She  had  just  received  from  her 
brother  in  England  a  box  of  clothing,  containing  "  a  printed  cot- 
ton gown,  a  quilted  coat,  a  bonnet,  a  cap,  and  some  ribbons,"  for 
herself  and  each  of  her  daughters ;  a  black  and  purple  gown  for 
herself,  but  light-colored  ones  for  the  girls.  "  I  am  amazed  beyond 
measure,"  she  wrote  to  Mrs.  Franklin,  "  that  your  house  was 
20* 


466  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l765. 

threatened  in  the  tumult.  I  thought  there  had  been  none  among 
you  would  proceed  to  such  a  length  to  persecute  a  man  merely  for 
being  the  best  of  characters,  and  really  deserving  good  from  the 
hand  and  tongue  of  all  his  fellow-creatures.  I  knew  there  was  a 
party  that  did  not  approve  his  prosecuting  the  business  he  is  gone 
to  England  upon,  and  that  some  had  used  him  with  some  scurrilous 
language  in  some  printed  papers,  but  I  was  in  hopes  it  had  so  far 
subsided  as  not  to  give  you  any  disturbance.  When  I  think  what 
you  must  have  suffered  at  the  time,  how  I  pity  you !  but  I  think 
your  indignation  must  have  exceeded  your  fear.  What  a  wretch- 
ed world  would  this  be  if  the  vile  of  mankind  had  no  laws  to  re- 
strain them  !"* 

By  the  first  of  November,  the  day  on  which  the  Stamp  Act  was 
to  go  into  execution,  it  was  known  in  England  that  the  colonies, 
with  one  voice,  had  refused  obedience  to  it.  Orders  for  manufac- 
tured goods  ceased  to  arrive  from  America,  and  all  trades  lan- 
guished. The  act  passed  so  carelessly  had  become  the  dividing 
topic  between  the  two  political  parties.  The  Grenville  administra- 
tion, to  the  joy  of  all  America,  had  fallen,  though  the  Stamp  Act 
had  had  nothing  to  do  with  its  fall.  A  more  liberal  ministry,  with 
the  Marquis  of  Rockingham  at  its  head,  and  General  Conway  the 
leader  of  the  House  of  Commons,  had  come  in.  In  December, 
Lord  Chesterfield  wrote  to  his  son :  "  The  late  imposed  stamp 
duty  our  colonies  absolutely  refuse  to  pay.  The  administration 
are  for  some  indulgence  and  forbearance  to  these  froward  children 
of  their  mother-country ;  the  opposition  are  for  taking  vigorous, 
as  they  call  them,  but  I  call  them  violent  measures ;  and  to  have 
the  tax  collected  by  the  troops  we  have  there.  For  my  part,  I 
never  saw  a  froward  child  mended  by  whipping ;  and  I  would  not 
have  the  mother-country  become  a  step-mother." 

With  this  new  ministry  came  into  parliament  a  new  member, 
Mr.  Edmund  Burke,  private  Secretary  to  Lord  Rockingham.  Mr. 
Burke  was  an  old  friend  of  Dr.  Franklin,  and  peculiarly  the  friend 
of  America.  His  first  publication  of  importance  was  an  account  of 
the  American  colonies.  The  first  letter  he  wrote  in  London  (1750) 
spoke  of  the  towers  and  turrets  of  the  hospitals  as  piercing  the 
skies  "  like  so  many  electrical  conductors,  averting  the  wrath  of 

*  Letters  to  Franklin  from  his  Family,  pp.  16,  20, 18T. 


AGED    59.]  THE   STAMP    ACT   REPEALED.  46V 

heaven  ;"  a  novel  figure  at  a  time  when  Dr.  Franklin's  discoveries 
in  electricity  were  only  known  in  England  to  the  inquisitive  few. 
For  years  he  was  only  prevented  from  emigrating  to  America  by 
the  unconquerable  opposition  of  his  parents.  Now,  at  the  age  of 
thirty-seven,  he  found  himself  in  parliament,  and  the  confidential 
factotum  of  the  prime  minister,  with  a  subject  before  the  nation 
upon  which  he  was,  probably,  the  best  informed  man  in  England, 
excepting  only  the  agent  for  Pennsylvania. 


CHAPTER  n. 

THE    STAMP   ACT   KEPEALED. 


All  unsuspicious  of  the  coming  thunder,  Dr.  Franklin,  in  May 
of  this  memorable  year,  amused  the  London  coffee-house  gossips 
with  one  of  his  most  humorous  effusions.  England,  it  appears, 
could  then,  as  England  can  now,  believe  any  thing  of  America  if  it 
were  only  absurd  and  disparaging  enough.  During  the  late  session 
of  parliament,  the  newspapers  had  abounded  in  the  wildest  fictions 
respecting  the  state  of  things  in  the  colonies.  A  writer  having 
taken  to  task  the  concoctors  of  these  ridiculous  paragraphs,  Dr. 
Franklin  wrote  a  very  comical  defense  of  them. 

"  Englishmen,"  he  wrote,  "  are  too  apt  to  be  silent  when  they 
have  nothing  to  say,  and  too  apt  to  be  sullen  when  they  are  silent ; 
and,  when  they  are  sullen,  to  hang  themselves.  But,  by  these  we 
hears,  we  are  supplied  with  abundant  funds  for  discourse.  *  *  * 
And  here,  give  me  leave  to  instance  the  various  accounts  the  news- 
writers  have  given  us,  with  so  much  honest  zeal  for  the  welfare  of 
J^oor  Old  England,  of  the  establishing  manufactures  in  the  colonies 
to  the  prejudice  of  those  of  the  kingdom.  It  is  objected  by  super- 
ficial readers,  who  yet  pretend  to  some  knowledge  of  those  coun- 
tries, that  such  establishments  are  not  only  improbable,  but  impos- 
sible, for  that  their  sheep  have  but  little  wool,  not  in  the  whole  suf- 
ficient for  a  pair  of  stockings  a  year  to  each  inhabitant ;  that,  from 
the  universal  deamess  of  labor  among  them,  the  workr^g  of  iron 


468  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l765. 

and  other  materials,  except  in  a  few  coarse  instances,  is  impractica- 
ble to  any  advantage. 

"  Dear  sir,  do  not  let  us  suffer  ourselves  to  be  amused  with  such 
groundless  objections.  The  very  tails  of  the  American  sheep  are 
so  laden  with  wool,  that  each  has  a  little  car  or  wagon  on  four  lit- 
tle wheels,  to  support  and  keep  it  from  trailing  on  the  ground.* 
Would  they  calk  their  ships,  would  they  even  litter  their  horses 
v/ith  wool,  if  it  were  not  both  plenty  and  cheap  ?  And  what  signi- 
fies the  dearness  of  labor,  when  an  English  shilling  passes  for  five 
and  twenty  ?  Their  engaging  three  hundred  silk  throwsters  here 
in  one  week  for  New  York  was  treated  as  a  fable,  because,  for- 
sooth, they  have  '  no  silk  there  to  throw.'  Those  who  make  this 
objection,  perhaps  do  not  know,  that,  at  the  same  time  the  agents 
from  the  king  of  Spain  were  at  Quebec  to  contract  for  one  thou- 
sand pieces  of  cannon  to  be  made  there  for  the  fortification  of 
Mexico,  and  at  New  York  engaging  the  usual  supply  of  woolen 
floor-carpets  for  their  West  India  houses,  other  agents  from  the 
emperor  of  China  were  at  Boston  treating  about  an  exchange  of  raw- 
silk  for  wool,  to  be  carried  in  Chinese  junks  through  the  Straits  of 
Magellan. 

"And  yet  all  this  is  as  certainly  true  as  the  account  said  to  be 
from  Quebec,  in  all  the  papers  of  last  week,  that  the  inhabitants 
of  Canada  are  making  preparations  for  a  cod  and  whale  fishery 
this  '  summer  in  the  upper  lakes.'  Ignorant  people  may  object, 
that  the  upper  lakes  are  fresh,  and  that  cod  and  whales  are  salt 
water  fish ;  but  let  them  know,  sir,  that  cod,  like  other  fish,  when 
attacked  by  their  enemies  fly  into  any  water  where  they  can  be 
safest;  that  whales,  when  they  have  a  mind  to  eat  cod,  pursue 
them  wherever  they  fly ;  and  that  the  grand  lea,p  of  the  whale  in 
the  chase  up  the  Falls  of  Niagara  is  esteemed,  by  all  who  have  seen 
it,  as  one  of  the  finest  spectacles  in  nature.  Really,  sir,  the  world 
is  grown  too  incredulous.     *     *     * 

*'Thus  much  I  thought  it  necessary  to  say  in  favor  of  an  honest 

*  This  joke  is  borrowed  from  Herodotus,  who,  however,  states  it  as  a  fact.  "  The  Arabians," 
says  Herodotus  (see  Thalia,  113),  "have  two  kinds  of  sheep  worthy  of  admiration,  which  are  seen 
nowhere  else.  One  kind  has  large  tails,  not  less  than  three  cubits  in  length,  which,  if  suffered  to 
trail,  would  ulcerate  by  the  tails  rubbing  on  the  ground.  But  every  shepherd  knows  enough  of 
the  carpenter's  art  to  prevent  this,  for  they  make  little  carts,  and  fasten  them  under  the  tails, 
binding  the  tail  of  each  sejiarate  sheep  to  a  separate  cart.  The  other  kind  of  sheep  have  broad 
tails  even  to  a  cubit  in  breatith." 


AGED   59.]  THE   STAMP   ACT  REPEALED.  469 

set  of  writers,  whose  comfortable  living  depends  on  collecting  and 
supplying  the  printers  with  news  at  the  small  price  of  sixpence  an 
article,  and  who  always  show  their  regard  to  truth,  by  contradict- 
ing in  a  subsequent  article  such  as  are  wrong,  for  another  six- 
pence, to  the  great  satisfaction  and  improvement  of  us  coifee-house 
students  in  history  and  politics,  and  all  future  Livys,  Rapins,  Rob- 
ertsons, Humes,  and  Macaulays,  who  may  be  sincerely  inclined  to 
furnish  the  world  with  that  vara  avis^  a  true  history." 

This  is  excellent "  fooling,"  better  for  its  purpose  than  ponderous 
refutation. 

The  muttering  storm  from  America  soon  changed  his  note.  From 
midsummer  until  Parliament  met  in  December,  and  during  the 
spring,  Franklin  was  chiefly  occupied  in  effecting  one  object,  the 
repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act.  "  I  was  extremely  busy,"  he  wrote  to 
Lord  Kames,  "  attending  members  of  both  houses,  informing,  ex- 
plaining, consulting,  disputing,  in  a  continual  hurry  from  morning 
till  night."  Mr.  Burke  was  the  Intelligence  of  the  Administration, 
and  Dr.  Franklin  was  the  intimate,  I  may  say  the  revered,  friend 
of  Mr.  Burke.  "  Ignorance  of  American  affairs,"  said  Mr.  Burke  in 
reviewing  this  period,  "  had  misled  parlinment.  Knowledge  alone 
could  bring  it  into  the  right  road."  Accordingly,  six  weeks  of  the 
session  were  employed  in  hearing  testimony  at  the  bar  in  Committee 
of  the  Whole  House.  "  Every  denomination  of  men,"  continues 
Mr.  Burke,  "  either  of  America,  or  connected  with  it  by  office,  by 
residence,  by  commerce,  by  interest,  even  by  injury  ;  men  of  civil 
and  military  capacity,  officers  of  the  revenue,  merchants,  manufac- 
turers of  every  species,  and  from  every  town  in  England,  attended 
at  the  bar.  Such  evidence  was  never  laid  before  Parliament."* 
One  of  these  witnesses,  as  every  reader  knows,  was  Dr.  Franklin. 
His  examination,  and  the  magnificent  debut  of  Mr.  Burke  as  a 
parliamentary  orator,  are  the  events  of  this  session  which  have 
most  interested  posterity.  Mr.  Burke's  two  speeches  for  the  re- 
peal. Dr.  Johnson  said,  "filled  the  town  with  wonder."  Dr. 
Franklin's  examination  instructed  England,  and  thrilled  America. 

This  celebrated  Examination  was  by  no  means  the  impromptu' 
affair  which  it  seemed  to  be.  Among  the  liberal  members  of  Par- 
liament Dr.  Franklin  had  a  large  number  of  friends,  with  whom, 

*  Works  and  correspondence  of  the  Eight  Hon.  Edmund  Burke,  iii.,  87. 


470  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1766. 

as  we  know,  he  had  many  times  conversed  upon  all  the  subjects  in 
dispute  between  the  colonies  and  the  ministry.  These  gentlemen, 
knowing  precisely  what  Franklin  had  to  offer  on  every  topic,  kept 
proposing  to  him  the  very  questions  which  they  were  aware  would 
bring  him  out  in  his  greatest  force.  All  their  leading  questions, 
moreover,  he  expected,  and  was  prepared  for.  The  questions  are, 
therefore,  to  be  divided  into  two  classes,  those  put  by  the  opponents 
of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  those  proposed  by  its  advocates.  The  object 
of  one  party  was  to  give  the  American  philosopher  the  best  op- 
portunity to  serve  his  cause  ;  the  object  of  the  other,  to  puzzle,  en- 
trap, and  confound  him.  One  set  of  questions  enabled  him  to  dis- 
play his  knowledge,  and  the  other  set  his  acuteness. 

The  first  thirteen  questions,  all  proposed  by  two  of  Dr.  Franklin's 
friends,  were  designed  to  elicit  certain  facts,  generally  unknown  in 
England,  which  being  known  the  whole  argument  for  the  Stamp 
Act  was  untenable.  These  facts  were,  first,  that  the  colonies  were 
then  struggling  under  a  load  of  debt  and  taxation  caused  by  the 
very  war  which  it  was  alleged  Britain  had  waged  solely  for  their 
defense  and  aggrandizement ;  and,  secondly,  that  the  enforcement 
of  the  Stamp  Act,  owing  to  the  vast  extent  of  the  country,  the  thin- 
ness of  the  population,  and  the  poverty  of  the  frontier  inhabitants, 
was  impossible.  A  man  in  the  back  country,  said  Franklin,  who 
happened  to  want  a  stamp  for  a  deed  or  a  receipt,  would  have  to 
take  a  month's  journey  to  get  it,  "  spending  perhaps  three  or  four 
pounds  that  the  crown  might  get  sixpence." 

When  these  points  had  been  brought  out  with  the  utmost  clear- 
ness (Franklin  citing  his  knowledge  of  the  country  gained  by  his 
connection  with  the  post-office),  the  concerted  game  between  him- 
self and  his  friends  was  stopped  for  a  moment  by  three  questions 
from  an  adversary.  Are  not  the  colonies  able  to  pay  the  stamp 
duty?  asked  this  gentleman.  Their  mere  ability  could  not  be 
denied,  and  the  question  was,  therefore,  answered  thus:  "In  my 
opinion,  there  is  not  gold  and  silver  enough  in  the  colonies  to  pay 
the  stamp  duty  for  one  year."  This  ingenious  evasion  did  not 
throw  the  enemy  off  the  scent.  "Don't  you  know,"  continued  the 
member,  "  that  all  the  money  arising  from  the  stamps  is  to  be  laid 
out  in  America  ?"  True,  replied  the  witness,  but  it  is  to  be  spent 
in  the  conquered  colonies,  in  Canada,  where  the  soldiers  are ;  not 
in  the  colonies  that  pay  it.     The  member  then  asked  if  there  was 


AGED  60.]  THE  STAMP  ACT  REPEALED.  47 1 

not  a  balance  of  trade  against  Canada  that  would  bring  the  money 
back  to  the  old  colonies.  Franklin  thought  not.  The  money,  he 
said,  would  go  to  England  for  goods,  as  colonial  money  was  only 
too  apt  to  do. 

At  this  point  the  enemy  desisted,  and  a  friend  of  Dr.  Franklin 
succeeded  in  getting  in  nine  questions,  which  drew  from  the  witness 
a  statement  of  the  population  and  resources  of  the  colonies,  designed 
to  show  the  folly  of  estranging  them.  He  told  Parliament,  that 
Korth  America  contained  three  hundred  thousand  men  capable  of 
taking  the  field,  and  that  the  colonies  imported  every  year  from 
Great  Britain  five  hundred  thousand  pounds'  worth  of  goods.  This 
information  was  brought  out  with  great  force. 

The  friendly  questioner  then  tried  to  get  Dr.  Franklin  to  repeat 
before  the  High  Court  of  Parliament  a  little  joke  with  which  he  had 
amused  a  tory  member  a  few  days  before.  They  were  talking  over 
the  various  plans  that  had  been  suggested  for  making  the  Stamp  Act 
palatable  to  the  Americans.  The  tory,  who  was  a  most  strenuous 
advocate  of  the  Stamp  Act,  told  Dr.  Franklin  that  if  he  would  but 
assist  the  ministry  a  little  the  act  could  easily  be  amended  so  as  to 
make  it,  at  least,  tolerable  to  the  colonists.  "  I  must  confess,"  the 
doctor  gravely  replied,  "  I  have  thought  of  one  amendment.  K 
you  will  make  it,  the  act  may  remain,  and  yet  the  Americans  will 
be  quieted.  It  is  a  very  small  amendment  too;  it  is  only  the 
change  of  a  single  word."  The  tory  was  all  attention.  "  It  is  in 
that  clause,"  continued  Franklin,  "  where  it  is  said  that  '  from  and 
after  the  first  day  of  November,  one  thousand  seven  hundred  and 
sixty-five,  there  shall  be  paid,  etc'  The  amendment  I  would 
propose  is  for  one,  read  tico^  and  then  all  the  rest  of  the  act  may 
stand  as  it  does."  The  examining  member  endeavored  to  bring 
out  this  piece  of  nonsense  by  asking  the  witness  whether  he  could 
not  propose  "a  small  amendment"  that  would  make  the  act 
acceptable.  The  witness,  however,  evaded  the  question,  and  ex- 
plained afterwards,  that  he  thought  the  answer  expected  of  him 
"  too  light  and  ludicrous  for  the  House." 

Mr.  George  Grenville,  the  proposer  of  the  Stamp  Act,  now  re- 
curred to  his  fixed  idea.  "  Do  you  think  it  right,"  he  asked,  "  that 
America  should  be  protected  by  this  country  and  pay  no  part  of 
the  expense  ?"  To  this  Franklin  replied,  that  the  colonies  during 
the  last  war  had  raised,  clothed,  and  sent  to  the  field  twenty-five 


4Y2  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1766. 

thousand  men,  and  spent  millions  of  pounds.  "  Were  you  not  re- 
imbursed by  Parliament  ?"  asked  Grenville.  Franklin  explained, 
that  the  colonies  were  reimbursed  only  to  the  amount  which  Par- 
liament thought  they  had  exceeded  their  just  proportion  of  the  ex- 
pense! Pennsylvania,  for  example,  had  expended  five  hundred 
thousand  pounds,  and  received  back  sixty  thousand. 

The  advocates  of  the  Act  continued  the  examination.  One  asked 
if  the  Americans  would  pay  the  Stamp  Act  if  the  rate  of  duty  was 
reduced.  "  No,"  replied  the  American  ;  "  never^  unless  compelled 
by  force  of  arms."  Another  asked :  Does  not  the  Assembly  of 
Pennsylvania,  the  majority  of  whom  are  land  owners,  lay  the  taxes 
so  as  to  impose  the  heaviest  burden  upon  trade,  and  spare  the 
land?  Franklin's  reply  to  this  was  very  ingenious  and  Adam- 
Smithian  :  "  If  unequal  burdens  are  laid  on  trade,  the  tradesman 
puts  an  additional  price  on  his  goods ;  and  the  consumers,  who  are 
chiefly  land  owners,  finally  pay  the  greatest  part,  if  not  the  whole." 
Besides  this,  he  denied  that  the  Assembly  did  impose  unequal  bur- 
dens. The  enemy  plied  him  with  a  dozen  questions  more,  but  ex- 
tracted small  comfort  from  him. 

Then  his  friends  had  an  inning,  and  gave  him  several  opportu- 
nities, which  he  improved  in  the  most  telling  manner.  Nothing 
that  he  said  produced  such  an  impression,  either  in  the  House  or 
out  of  doors,  as  his  next  few  rephes.  "  What,"  asked  a  friendly 
member,  "  was  the  temper  of  America  towards  Great  Britain  be- 
fore the  year  1763  ?"  ^'The  best  in  the  world,"  said  the  witness. 
"  They  submitted  willingly  to  the  government  of  the  crown,  and 
paid  in  their  courts  obedience  to  acts  of  Parliament.  Numerous  as 
the  people  are  in  the  several  old  provinces,  they  cost  you  nothing 
in  forts,  citadels,  garrisons,  or  armies,  to  keep  them  in  subjection. 
They  were  governed  by  this  country  at  the  expense  only  of  a  little 
pen,  ink,  and  paper :  they  were  led  by  a  thread.  They  had  not  only 
a  respect,  but  an  affection  for  Great  Britain ;  for  its  laws,  its  cus- 
toms, and  manners ;  and  even  a  fondness  for  its  fashions,  that  greatly 
increased  the  commerce.  Natives  of  Britain  were  always  treated 
with  particular  regard  ;  to  be  an  Old  England  man  was,  of  itself, 
a  character  of  some  respect,  and  gave  a  kind  of  rank  among  us." 

"  What  is  their  temper  now  ?"  asked  the  same  friend.  "  O,  very 
much  altered,"  was  the  reply.  "In  what  light,"  continued  the 
friendly  member,  "did  the  people  of  America  use  to  consider  the 


AGED    60.]  THE   STAMP   ACT   REPEAT.ED.  473 

Parliament  of  Great  Britain  ?"  Franklin  replied  :  "  They  considered 
the  Parliament  as  the  great  bulwark  and  security  of  their  liberties 
and  privileges,  and  always  spoke  of  it  with  the  utmost  respect  and 
veneration.  Arbitrary  ministers,  they  thought,  might  possibly,  at 
times,  attempt  to  oppress  them ;  but  they  relied  on  it  that  the  Par- 
liament, on  application,  would  always  give  redress."  He  added,  in 
reply  to  another  question,  that  this  feeling  was  greatly  lessened  by 
the  recent  measures. 

The  Stamp  Act  men  then  asked  several  questions,  which  were  in- 
tended to  draw  forth  an  admission  that  the  colonies  were  abundant- 
ly able  to  pay  an  additional  tax.  One  question  was,  why  the 
people  in  America  increased  faster  than  the  Enghsh  at  home.  "Be- 
cause they  marry  younger,  and  because  more  of  them  marry,"  re- 
plied this  unrelenting  political  economist.  Why  so  ?  "  Because  any 
young  couple,  if  they  are  industrious,  can  get  land  and  support  a 
fVimily."  Then  are  not  the  lower  ranks  of  peopl^  more  at  their  ease 
in  America  than  in  England  ?  "  They  may  be  so  if  they  are  sober 
and  diligent,  as  they  are  better  paid  for  their  labor."  How  would 
the  Americans  receive  a  future  tax,  imposed  on  the  same  principle 
as  the  Stamp  Act  ?  "  Just  as  they  do  the  Stamp  Act ;  they  would  not 
pay  it^"* 

The  friends  of  the  act  then  tried  to  corner  the  acute  American,  by 
asking  him  whether,  in  case  an  Assembly  should  refuse  to  vote  the 
supplies  necessary  to  the  support  of  colonial  government,  Parlia- 
ment would  not  be  justified  in  taxing  the  people.  He  thought  not ; 
for,  "  if  an  Assembly  could  possibly  be  so  absurd,"  the  disorders 
that  would  arise  in  the  province  would  soon  bring  them  to  reason. 
But,  persisted  the  questioner,  suppose  they  should  not,  ought  there 
not  to  be  a  remedy  in  the  power  of  the  home  government  ?  Frank- 
lin said  he  would  not  object  to  the  interference  of  Parliament  in 
such  a  case,  provided  its  interference  was  merely  for  the  good  of  the 
people.  "  But  who  is  the  judge  of  that,  Britain  or  the  colony  ?" 
This  was  rather  a  home  thrust.  The  witness  parried  it  thus  : 
'*  Those  that  feel  can  best  judge." 

The  tory  members  affected  to  be  incapable  of  perceiving  any  dif- 
ference in  principle  between  the  duties  laid  upon  imports  from  for- 
eign countries,  which  the  colonists  paid  without  a  murmur,  and  the 
Stamp  Act,  which  with  one  voice  they  resisted.  "The  difference  is 
very  great,"  said  Dr.  Franklin ;  "  the  duty  is  added  to  the  first  cost 


474  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN    FEANKLIN.  [1766. 

and  other  charges  on  the  commodity,  and,  when  it  is  offered  for 
sale,  makes  a  part  of  the  price.  If  the  people  do  not  like  it  at  that 
price,  they  refuse  it ;  they  are  not  obliged  to  pay  it.  But  an  inter- 
7ialtiix  is  forced  from  the  people  without  their  consent,  if  not  laid 
by  their  own  representatives."  "But,"  asked  a  member,  "suppos- 
ing the  external  tax  to  be  laid  on  the  necessaries  of  life  ?"  Franklin 
astonished  Parliament  by  replying,  that  the  colonists  imported  no 
article  which  they  could  not  dispense  with  or  supply  the  place  of. 
Cloth  ?  asked  one.  "  Yes,  they  could  make  all  their  cloth."  But 
would  it  not  take  long  to  establish  the  manufacture  ?  "  Before  their 
old  clothes  are  worn  out,  they  will  have  new  ones  of  their  own 
making."  But  is  there  wool  enough  in  America  ?  "  The  people  have 
taken  measures  to  increase  their  supply  of  wool.  They  combined 
to  eat  no  lamb  last  year,  and  very  few  lambs  were  killed.  In  three 
years  we  shall  have  wool  in  abundance."  But  is  not  the  American 
wool  very  inferior  in  quality,  a  kind  of  hair  merely?  "  No  ;  it  is 
very  fine  and  good." 

A  liberal  member  asked  whether  any  thing  less  than  a  military 
force  could  carry  the  Stamp  Act  into  execution.  Franklin  said  that 
a  military  force  could  not  do  it.  "  Suppose,"  said  he,  "  a  military 
force  sent  into  America,  they  will  find  nobody  in  arms ;  what  are 
they  then  to  do  ?  They  cannot  force  a  man  to  take  stamps  who 
chooses  to  do  without  them.  They  will  not  find  a  rebellion  :  they 
may  indeed  make  one."  "  If  the  act  is  not  repealed,"  asked  one  of 
Dr.  Franklin's  particular  friends,  "  what  do  you  think  will  be  the 
consequence?"  He  replied:  "  A  total  loss  of  the  respect  and  af- 
fection the  people  of  America  bear  to  this  country,  and  of  all  the 
commerce  that  depends  on  that  respect  and  afiection."  How  can 
the  commerce  be  afiected  ?  "  The  goods,"  said  Franklin,  "  which 
the  Americans  take  from  Britain  are  either  necessaries,  mere  con- 
veniences, or  superfluities.  The  first,  as  cloth,  w^ith  a  little  industry 
they  can  make  at  home  ;  the  second  they  can  do  without  till  they 
are  able  to  provide  them  among  themselves ;  and  the  last,  which 
are  much  the  greatest  part,  they  will  strike  off"  immediately.  They 
are  mere  articles  of  fashion,  purchased  and  consumed  because  the 
fashion  in  a  respected  country ;  but  will  now  be  detested  and  re- 
jected. The  people  have  already  struck  off,  by  general  agreement, 
the  use  of  all  goods  fashionable  in  mournings,  and  many  thousand 
pounds'  worth  are  sent  back  as  unsalable." 


AGED    60.]  THE    STAMP    ACT   REPEALED.  475 

Mr.  Grenville  returned  to  the  charge.  He  asked  whether  ^os^- 
age^  to  which  the  Americans  did  not  object,  was  not  a  tax.  No, 
replied  the  deputy  postmaster-general;  it  is  payment  for  service 
rendered  ;  nor  is  it  even  compulsory,  since  no  man  is  obliged  by 
law  to  employ  the  post-office.  Having  thus  displayed  his  incapa- 
city, Mr.  Grenville  next  proceeded  to  exhibit  his  ignorance.  *'Do 
not  the  Americans,"  he  asked,  "  consider  the  regulations  of  the 
post-office,  by  the  act  of  last  year,  as  a  tax  ?"  Franklin  informed 
him  that  the  act  of  last  year  redticed  the  rate  of  postage  thirty  per 
cent,  throughout  America ;  which  abatement,  he  added,  the  Amer- 
icans certainly  did  not  regard  in  the  light  of  a  tax.  Mr.  Grenville 
was  silent  for  a  while. 

In  reply  to  other  tory  questioners.  Dr.  Franklin  gave  another 
point  of  diffiirence  between  an  external  and  an  internal  tax.  "  The 
sea  is  yours,"  he  said  ;  "  you  maintain,  by  your  fleets,  the  safety  of 
navigation  in  it,  and  keep  it  clear  of  pirates :  you  may  have,  there- 
fore, a  natural  and  equitable  right  to  some  toll  or  duty  on  mer- 
chandise carried  through  that,  part  of  your  dominions,  towards 
defraying  the  expense  you  are  at  in  ships  to  maintain  the  safety  of 
that  carriage."  To  the  questions  of  friends  he  gave  answer  after 
answer,  demonstrating  the  impossibility  of  enforcing  the  odious  act 
in  America.  When  asked  if  the  colonists  would  prefer  to  forego 
the  collection  of  debts  by  legal  process  rather  than  use  stamped 
paper,  he  replied  :  "I  can  only  judge  what  other  people  will  think 
and  how  they  will  act  by  what  I  feel  within  myself.  I  have  a  great 
many  debts  due  to  me  in  America,  and  I  had  rather  they  should  re- 
main unrecoverable  by  any  law,  than  submit  to  the  Stamp  Act. 
They  will  be  debts  of  honor." 

The  leading  advocates  of  the  Stamp  Act  tried  by  a  variety  of 
questions  to  extort  from  Dr.  Franklin  an  intimation,  that,  in  case 
the  act  were  repealed,  the  colonists  would  not  object  to  pay  a  small 
internal  tax,  imposed  merely  to  assert  the  right  to  tax.  The  tory 
members  would  not  understand  that  the  opposition  to  the  Stamp 
Act  was  an  opposition  to  the  principle  involved  in  it.  They  kept 
insinuating  that  it  was  merely  a  mean  begrudging  of  the  sixpence. 
They  supposed  that  if  the  amount  of  the  tax  were  reduced,  the 
warmth  of  the  opposition  would  be  abated.  To  one  of  the  ques- 
tions founded  upon  this  opinion.  Dr.  Franklin  made  a  reply  that 
was  long  enough  for  a  speech.     Reviewing  the  history  of  the  two 


476  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1766 

French  wars,  he  showed  that  the  colonies,  so  far  from  being  parsi- 
monious, had  lavished  both  men  and  treasure  in  aiding  the  Home 
Government  to  execute  its  projects.  They  had  done  far  more  than 
their  part.  They  had  involved  themselves  so  deeply,  that  twenty 
years  of  peace  and  prosperity  would  be  necessary  to  set  them  free 
from  debt.  He  quoted  from  a  king's  speech  in  which  the  zeal  and 
liberahty  of  the  colonists  had  been  handsomely  acknowledged. 
He  reminded  Parliament  that  the  wars  of  which  the  colonies  had 
borne  the  burden  and  suffered  the  calamities,  had  not  been  waged 
chiefly  for  their  own  sake ;  it  was  for  the  honor  and  advancement 
of  the  British  empire  that  they  had  spent  their  substance  and  shed 
their  blood.  And  all  they  had  done  for  their  country,  they  had 
done  with  eager  willingness,  and  asked  no  reward  but  the  appro- 
bation of  their  king  and  of  that  House. 

When  he  had  finished  this  long  harangue,  a  friend  asked  him 
whether  the  colonies  would  help  the  mother  country  in  a  war 
purely  European.  This  question  gave  him  an  opportunity  to  ex- 
patiate further  on  the  same  theme.  He  answered  that  they  would 
do  so  beyond  question.  They  considered  themselves  part  of  the 
British  empire.  Its  honor  was  thejr  honor  ;  its  welfare  their  wel- 
fare. He  took  occasion,  also,  to  show  that  such  expeditions  as  that 
of  General  Braddock  were  not  a  benefit  to  the  colonies  ;  for  it  was 
not  until  Braddock  had  been  defeated  that  the  Indians  had  been 
troublesome.  To  show  the  willingness  of  the  colonies  to  grant 
money  to  the  crown,  he  said  he  had  been  specially  instructed  to 
assure  the  ministry  that  they  were  ready  to  vote  all  the  aid  they 
could  afford  whenever  their  aid  was  solicited  in  a  constitutional 
manner. 

The  Stamp  Act  members  appeared  still  to  find  great  difficulty  in 
discerning  the  difference  between  an  external  and  an  internal  tax, 
and  seemed  to  think  that,  to  be  consistent,  the  Americans  ought  to 
object  equally  to  both.  Dr.  Franklin  gave  an  exquisite  reply  to 
one  who  insinuated  such  an  opinion.  '*  Many  arguments,"  said  he, 
"  have  been  used  to  show  the  Americans  that  there  is  no  difference 
between  an  internal  and  an  external  tax."  "  At  present,  they  do 
not  reason  so ;  but  in  time,  they  may  possibly  be  convinced  by 
these  arguments." 

A  rattling  fire  of  short  questions  and  answers  brought  to  a  con- 
clusion this  long  Examination.     A  friend  asked  at  length,  "  What 


AGED    60.]  THE   STAMP   ACT   EEPEALED.  477 

used  to  be  the  pride  of  the  Americans  ?"  "  To  indulge,"  said  the 
witness,  "in  the  fashions  and  manufactures  of  Great  Britain." 
"  What  is  now  their  pride  ?"  "  To  wear  their  old  clothes  over 
-again,  till  they  can  make  new  ones." 

Dr.  Franklin  withdrew,  and  the  committee  rose.  The  next  day, 
as  Dr.  Franklin  records,  one  of  the  tory  members  made  a  violent 
Fpeech  upon  the  Examination,  in  the  course  of  which  he  said: 
"  We  have  often  experienced  Austrian  ingratitude,  and  yet  we  as- 
sisted Portugal ;  we  experienced  Portuguese  ingratitude,  and  yet 
we  assisted  America.  But  what  is  Austrian  ingratitude,  what  is 
the  ingratitude  of  Portugal,  compared  to  this  of  America  ?  We 
have  fought,  bled,  and  ruined  ourselves,  to  conquer  for  them  ;  and 
now  they  come  and  tell  us  to  our  noses,  even  at  the  bar  of  this 
House,  that  they  were  not  obliged  to  us."  His  clamor,  remarks 
Franklin,  was  "  very  little  minded." 

The  Examination,  indeed,  was  almost  unanimously  approved,  for 
even  tories  could  scarcely  censure  a  man  for  so  ably  pleading  the 
cause  of  his  country.  "  The  ministry,"  says  Franklin,  "  were  ready 
to  hug  me  for  the  assistance  I  had  given  them."  Burke  said  the 
scene  always  reminded  him  of  a  master  examined  by  a  parcel  of 
school-boys.  Dr.  Fothergill,  who  was  present,  wrote  to  a  friend 
in  Philadelphia:  "He  gave  such  distinct,  clear,  and  satisfactory 
answers  to  every  interrogatory,  and  besides  spoke  his  sentiments 
on  the  subject  with  such  perspicuity  and  firmness,  as  did  him  the 
highest  honor,  and  was  of  the  greatest  service  to  the  American 
cause."  Franklin's  old  friend.  Rev.  George  Whitefield,  wrote: 
"  Our  worthy  friend.  Dr.  Franklin,  has  gained  immortal  honor  by 
his  behavior  at  the  bar  of  the  House.  The  answer  was  always 
found  equal  if  not  superior  to  the  questioner.  He  stood  unappalled, 
gave  pleasure  to  his  friends,  and  did  honor  to  his  country." 

An  imperfect  outline  of  the  Examination  soon  found  its  way  into 
American  newspapers,  and  made  the  name  of  Franklin  dear  to 
every  patriotic  heart.  It  is  pleasing  to  observe  some  of  the  most 
ravenous  of  the  proprietary  party  in  Philadelphia  congratulating 
one  another,  that  their  opposition  to  Dr.  FrankHn's  appointment 
as  agent,  had  been  "providentially  defeated." 

But  let  us  not  omit  to  notice  that,  in  this  matter  of  the  Stamp 
Act,  the  philosopher  was  impelled  and  inspired  by  the  people.  In 
May,  1705,  Dr.  Franklin  contemplated  submission — would  have 


478  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN  FRAXKLIX.  [1766. 

advised  submission.  In  February,  1766,  he  told  Parliament  that 
he  preferred  to  lose  his  debts  rather  than  give  a  receipt  for  them 
on  stamped  paper.  Democrats  will  know  how  to  draw  the  proper 
inference,  and  also  how  to  limit  it  properly. 

A  few  days  after  the  Examination  of  Dr.  Franklin,  the  great 
question  was  decided,  amid  an  excitement  both  within  and  without 
the  House  that  has  seldom  been  equaled.  The  king  and  court 
w^ere  known  to  be  set  against  Repeal,  and  the  king  permitted  the 
fact  to  be  so  plainly  made  known  to  the  leaders  of  the  opposition  in 
both  Houses,  that  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham  remonstrated  in  the 
royal  closet  against  the  unconstitutional  procedure.  The  debates, 
splendid  as  they  were  (Pitt  rivaling  his  old  renown,  and  Burke  win- 
ning the  great  Commoner's  public  applause),  have  perished,  except 
a  few  brilliant  fragments.  To  the  end  of  his  life,  Mr.  Burke  looked 
upon  those  days  of  his  dawning  glory  with  peculiar  fondness  and 
pride.  So  far  as  the  conduct  of  Parliament  toward  the  colonies 
was  concerned,  this  was  the  lucid  week  in  twenty  years  of  madness. 
In  one  of  his  later  speeches,  delivered  when  he  had  ceased  to  hope 
that  England  would  ever  be  just  to  America,  Mr.  Burke  described 
in  his  noblest  flight  of  narrative  the  closing  night  of  the  Stamp  Act 
Debate  in  the  House  of  Commons. 

"  The  question  of  the  Repeal,"  said  he,  "  was  brought  on  by  the 
ministry  in  the  very  instant  when  it  was  known  that  more  than  one 
court  negotiation  was  carrying  on  with  the  heads  of  the  opposition. 
Every  thing  upon  every  side  was  full  of  traps  and  mines.  Earth 
below  shook ;  heaven  above  menaced  ;  all  the  elements  of  minis- 
terial safety  were  dissolved.  It  was  in  the  midst  of  this  chaos  of  plots 
and  counter-plots ;  it  was  in  the  midst  of  this  compHcated  warfare 
against  public  opposition  and  private  treachery,  that  the  firmness 
of  that  noble  person  (the  Marquis  of  Rockingham)  w^as  put  to  the 
proof.  He  never  stirred  from  his  ground ;  no,  not  an  inch.  He 
remained  fixed  and  determined  in  principle,  in  measure,  and  in 
conduct.  He  practiced  no  managements.  He  secured  no  retreat. 
He  sought  no  apology." 

The  orator  then  broke  into  an  eulogium  of  General  Conway, 
who,  as  leader  of  the  House,  moved  the  Repeal :  "  He  acted  his 
part  with  alacrity  and  resolution.  We  all  felt  inspired  by  the  ex- 
ample he  gave  us,  down  even  to  myself,  the  weakest  in  that 
phalanx.     I  declare,  for  one,  I  knew  well  enough  (it  could  not  be 


AGED    60.]  THE    STAMP    ACT    REPEALED.  479 

concealed  from  anybody)  the  true  state  of  things ;  but  in  my  life 
I  never  came  with  so  much  spirits  into  this  House.  It  was  a 
time  for  a  man  to  act  in.  We  had  powerful  enemies,  but  we  had 
faithful  and  determined  friends,  and  a  glorious  cause.  We  had  a 
great  battle  to  fight,  but  we  had  the  means  of  fighting ;  not  as 
now,  when  our  arms  are  tied  behind  us.  We  did  fight  that  day, 
and  conquered. 

"  I  remember  with  a  melancholy  pleasure  the  situation  of  the  hon- 
orable gentleman  who  made  the  motion  for  the  repeal :  in  that 
crisis  when  the  whole  trading  interest  of  this  empire,  crammed  into 
your  lobbies,  with  a  trembling  and  anxious  expectation  waited, 
almost  to  a  winter's  return  of  light,  their  fate  from  your  resolutions. 
When,  at  length,  you  had  determined  in  their  favor,  and  your  doors 
thrown  open,  shoAved  them  the  figure  of  their  deliverer  in  the  well- 
earned  triumph  of  his  important  victory,  from  the  whole  of  that  grave 
multitude  there  arose  an  involuntary  burst  of  gratitude  and  trans- 
port. They  jumped  upon  him  like  cliildren  on  a  long- absent  father. 
They  clung  about  him  as  captives  about  their  redeemer.  All  Eng- 
land, all  America  joined  to  his  applause.  Nor  did  he  seem  insen- 
sible to  the  best  of  all  earthly  rewards,  the  love  and  admiration  of 
his  fellow-citizens.  Hope  elevated  and  joy  brightened  his  crest.  .  I 
stood  near  him,  and  his  face,  to  use  the  expression  of  the  Scrip- 
ture of  the  first  martyr,  his  face  was  as  if  it  had  been  the  face 
of  an  angel.  I  do  not  know  how  others  feel,  but  if  I  had  stood 
in  that  situation,  I  never  would  have  exchanged  it  for  all  that  kings 
in  their  profusion  could  bestow."* 

Horace  Walpole's  matter-of-fact  and  cynical  memoirs  furnish  a 
passage  that  completes  Mr.  Burke's  fervid  and  generous  narration : 
"  Though  Lord  Rockingham,  with  childish  arrogance  and  indis- 
cretion, vaunted  in  the  palace  itself  that  he  carried  the  repeal 
against  the  king,  queen,  princess  dowager,  Duke  of  York,  Lord 
Bute,  the  Tories,  the  Scotch,  and  the  Opposition  (and  it  was  true 
he  had),  yet  in  reality  it  was  the  clamor  of  trade,  of  the  merchants, 
and  of  the  manufacturing  towns,  that  had  borne  down  all  oppo- 
sition. A  general  insurrection  was  apprehended  as  the  imme- 
diate consequence  of  upholding  the  bill :  the  revolt  of  America, 
and  the  destruction  of  trade,  was  the  prospect  in  future.     A  nod 

*  Burke's  Speech  on  American  Taxation,  1774. —  Works  and  Correspondence^  iii.,  208. 


480  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [17G6. 

from  the  ministers  would  have  let  loose  all  the  manufacturers  of 
Bristol,  Liverpool,  Manchester,  and  such  populous  and  discontented 
towns,  who  threatened  to  send  hosts  to  Westminster  to  back  their 
demand  of  repeal.  As  it  was,  the  lobby  of  the  House,  the  Court  of 
Requests,  and  the  avenues  w^ere  beset  with  American  merchants.  As 
Mr.  Conway  went  away,  they  huzzaed  him  thrice,  stopped  him  to 
tliank  and  compliment  him,  and  made  a  lane  for  his  passage.  When 
Mr.  Pitt  appeared,  the  whole  crowd  pulled  off  their  hats,  huzzaed, 
and  many  followed  his  chair  home  with  shouts  and  benedictions. 
The  scene  changed  on  the  sight  of  Grenville.  The  crowd  pressed  on 
him  with  scorn  and  hisses.  He,  swelling  with  rage  and  mortification, 
seized  the  nearest  man  to  him  by  the  collar.  Providentially,  the  fel- 
low had  more  humor  than  spleen. '  Well,  if  I  may  not  hiss,'  said  he,  Sat 
least  I  may  laugh,'  and  laughed  in  his  face.  The  jest  caught.  Had 
the  fellow  been  surly  and  resisted,  a  tragedy  had  possibly  ensued."* 

Mr.  Grenville  was  a  diarist  also.  On  reaching  home  on  that 
important  morning,  he  made  this  entry  in  his  journal :  "  Friday, 
February  21st,  1766.  The  Repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act  was  moved 
by  Mr.  Conway,  and  seconded  by  Mr.  Grey  Cooper.  The  House 
sat  till  four  in  the  morning.  The  question  for  the  Repeal  was  car- 
ried by  a  majority  of  108  voices."f     Not  a  word  more. 

Franklin's  joy  at  the  Repeal  was  deep  and  fervent,  but  he  has- 
tened to  write  to  friends  in  Boston  and  Philadelphia,  cautioning 
them  to  express  their  gladness  in  such  a  way  that  the  enemies  of 
America  might  derive  neither  aid  nor  comfort  from  it.  For  his 
own  part,  he  celebrated  the  joyful  event  by  sending  his  wife  a  new 
gown.  "  As  the  Stamp  Act,"  he  wrote  to  her,  "  is  at  length  re- 
pealed, I  am  willing  you  should  have  a  new  gown,  which  you  may 
suppose  I  did  not  send  sooner,  as  I  knew  you  would  not  like  to  be 
finer  than  your  neighbors,  unless  in  a  gown  of  your  own  spinning. 
Had  the  trade  between  the  two  countries  totally  ceased,  it  was  a 
comfort  to  me  to  recollect,  that  I  had  once  been  clothed,  from  head 
to  foot,  in  woolen  and  linen  of  my  wife's  manufacture,  that  I  never 
was  prouder  of  any  dress  in  my  life,  and  that  she  and  her  daughter 
might  do  it  again,  if  it  was  necessary.  I  told  the  Parliament  that 
it  was  my  opinion,  before  the  old  clothes  of  the  Americans  were 


*  "  Memoirs  of  the  Eeign  of  George  III.,"  by  Horace  Walpole,  1., 
t  Grenville  Papers,  iii.,  373. 


AGED    60.J  THE    STAMP    ACT   REPEALED.  481 

worn  out,  they  might  have  new  ones  of  their  own  making.  I  have 
sent  you  a  fine  piece  of  Pompadour  satin,  fourteen  yards,  cost 
eleven  shillings  a  yard ;  a  silk  negligee  and  petticoat  of  brocaded 
lutestring,  for  my  dear  Sally,  with  two  dozen  gloves,  four  bottles 
of  lavender  water,  and  two  little  reels.  The  reels  are  to  screw  on 
the  edge  of  the  table,  when  she  would  wind  silk  or  thread." 

He  now  asked  permission  of  the  Assembly  to  return  home  ;  and, 
while  waiting  their  reply,  made  the  tour  of  Hanover  and  Holland. 
The  only  answer  the  Assembly  made  to  his  request,  was  to  elect 
him  agent  for  another  year. 

Meanwhile  the  news  of  the  Repeal  had  filled  America  with  de- 
light.    ]^ever  did  any  other  people  so  abandon  themselves  to  rap- 
turous exultation,  as  the  colonists  on  this  occasion.     In  Boston,  the 
very  debtors  were  brought  out  of  jail,  that  there  might,  at  such  a 
moment,  be  no  one  unhappy  in  the  town.     When  the  glad  tidings 
reached  Philadelphia,  the  frequenters  of  the  principal  coffee-house 
sent  for  the  captain  of  the  ship  to  make  one  of  their  company,  pre- 
sented him  with  a  gold-laced  hat,  and  gave  presents  to  every  man 
and  boy  of  his  crew.     They  kept  a  punch-bowl  replenished  all  day, 
free  to  every  one  who  would  drink  the  health  of  the  king.     At 
night  the  city  was  illuminated,  and  the  people  were  regaled  with 
unlimited  beer.     "  I  never  heard  so  much  noise  in  my  life,"  wrote 
Sally  Frankhn  to  her  *  honored  papa' ;  "  the  very  children  seemed 
distracted."     The  next  day  Governor  Penn  and  the  Mayor  enter- 
tained three  hundred  gentlemen  at  the  State-house,  who  drank  the 
health  of  Dr.  Franklin,  with  all  the  honors,  and  resolved  to  clothe 
themselves,  on  the  next  birthday  of  the  king,  in  complete  suits  of 
English  manufacture,  and  give  their  homespun  to  the  poor.     On  the 
birthday  there  was  a  grand  banquet  in  a  grove  on  the  banks  of  the 
Schuylkill,  and  a  procession,  of  which  the  sublime  feature  was  a 
barge,  forty  feet  long,  named  Franklin,  from  which  salutes  were 
fired,  as  it  passed  along  the  streets.*     One  of  Franklin's  nieces 
wrote  to  him  that  a  good  lady  of  their  acquaintance,  who  was  lying 
at  the  point  of  death,  just  before  the  good  news  arrived,  had  ex- 
pressed a  longing  desire  to  hear  from  England  before  she  died,  that 
she  might  carry  the  news  of  the  Repeal  to  her  father,  who,  in  his 
life,  had  been  "  a  good  old  whig." 

*  Watson's  "Annals  of  Philadelphia,"  ii.,  270. 

21 


432  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1*766. 

At  the  October  election  in  Philadelphia,  the  "  old  ticket"  was 
once  more  triumphant,  and  that,  too,  in  the  absence  of  its  chief. 
Chance  has  preserved  a  little  note,  dashed  off"  by  Sally  Franklin,  to 
her  brother,  the  Governor  of  New  Jersey,  dated  October  3d,  I'zee  : 
"  Dear  Brother  : — '  The  Old  Ticket  forever  !  We  have  it  by  34 
votes  !  God  bless  our  icorthy  and  noble  agent  ^  and  all  his  family  P 
were  the  joyful  words  we  were  waked  with  at  2  or  3  o'clock  this 
morning,  by  the  White  Oaks.  They  then  gave  us  three  huzzas  and 
a  blessing,  then  marched  off.  How  strong  is  the  cause  of  truth ! 
We  have  beat  three  parties :  the  Proprietary,  the  Presbyterians, 
and  the  Half-and-Half.  As  we  knew  you  would  be  glad  to  hear, 
mamma  has  sent  George,  and  Mr.  Wharton  will  write  also."* 

Dr.  Franklin  was  too  modest  a  man  not  to  enjoy,  and  keenly  too, 
his  complete  reinstatement  in  the  good-will  of  his  countrymen. 
Amid  the  applause  that  rushed  upon  him  like  a  torrent,  there  was 
a  long  letter  from  his  sister,  Mrs.  Mecom,  who  told  him  that  his 
"  Answers  were  thought,  by  the  best  judges,  to  exceed  all  that  had 
been  wrote  on  the  subject,  and  being  given  in  the  manner  they 
were,  they  were  a  proof  that  they  proceeded  from  principle,  and  suf- 
ficient to  stop  the  mouths  of  all  gainsay ers."  The  good  lady  had  a 
favor  to  ask  of  her  generous  brother :  "  It  is  to  procure  me  some 
fine  old  linen  or  cambric  (as  a  very  old  shirt  or  cambric  handker- 
chief), dyed  into  bright  colors,  such  as  red  and  green,  a  little  blue, 
but  chiefly  red  ;  for,  with  all  my  own  art,  and  good  old  Uncle  Ben- 
jamin's memorandums,  I  can't  make  them  good  colors ;  and  my 
daughter  Jenny,  with  a  little  of  my  assistance,  has  taken  to  making 
flowers  for  the  ladies'  heads  and  bosoms,  with  pretty  good  accept- 
ance ;  and  if  I  can  procure  those  colors,  I  am  in  hopes  we  shall  get 
something  by  it  worth  our  pains,  if  we  live  till  spring."  Indorsed 
on  the  back  of  this  letter,  in  the  hand- writing  of  Dr.  Franklin,  are 
these  words:  "Sister  Mecom,  Nov.  8,  1766.  Answered  by  Cap- 
tain Freeman,  and  sent  a  box  of  millinery."f 

*  Letters  to  Franklin,  p.  191.  t  Idem,  p.  81. 


AGED    60.]  REACTION    AFTER   THE    REPEAL.  483 


CHAPTER  III. 

REACTION  AFTER  THE  REPEAL. 

Moralists  do  not  usually  warn  mankind  of  the  danger  of  being 
too  good.  Nevertheless,  history  shows  us,  that  bodies  of  men,  in- 
fluenced by  extraordinary  eloquence  or  peculiar  circumstances,  may 
perform  actions  more  virtuous  than  they  are  capable  of  sustaining, 
and  consequently  repent  of  their  noblest  deeds.  Polonius  might 
have  added  to  the  other  admonitions  bestowed  upon  the  departing 
Laertes  a  caution  not  to  attempt  a  flight  of  magnanimity  beyond 
his  strength,  lest  he  should  afterwards  droop,  fatigued,  below  his 
natural  and  proper  elevation. 

In  repealing  the  Stamp  Act,  the  government  of  Great  Britain, 
under  the  combined  influence  of  Franklin's  array  of  facts,  Burke's 
new  eloquence,  Rockingham's  great  parliamentary  connection,  the 
mighty  name  of  Pitt,  the  distress  of  trade,  and  the  clamor  of  tlie 
people,  had  been  brought  to  do  a  deed  in  advance  of  its  intelli- 
gence and  opposed  to  its  instincts.  "  If  I  had  been  prime  minis- 
ter," said  Dr.  Johnson  to  Bishop  White,,  of  Pennsylvania,  "  during 
the  recent  controversy  respecting  the  Stamp  Act,  I  would  have 
sent  a  ship-of-war  and  leveled  one  of  your  principal  cities  to  the 
ground."*  Then  spoke  all  that  was  narrow,  bigoted,  and  brutal 
in  upper  England.  George  Grenville,  too,  was  America-mad,  after 
the  Repeal.  "  He  behaves,"  wrote  Franklin,  "  as  if  a  little  out  of 
his  head  on  the  article  of  America,  which  he  brings  into  every 
debate  without  rhyme  or  reason,  when  the  matter  has  not  the  least 
connection  with  it." 

The  violence  of  a  fallen  minister  Avould  have  merely  fatigued  and 
emptied  an  un corrupt  House  of  Commons.  The  House  of  Com- 
mons was  not  uncorrupt. 

It  was  known,  nay,  it  was  industriously  whispered  about  that 
the  king  felt  himself  personally  aggrieved  by  the  Repeal.  To  pro- 
pitiate the  king  and  court,  the  Declaratory  Act,  as  it  was  called, 
bad  been  announced  a  few  days  before  the  Repeal;  w^hich  act 
merely  delared  the  absolute  supremacy  of  Parliament  over  the  colo- 

*  Wilson's  "  Life  of  Bishop  White,"  p.  89. 


484  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIlf   FRANKLIN.  [l766. 

nies.  This,  it  was  supposed,  was  necessary  to  secure  the  consent 
of  the  king  and  the  king's  friends  to  the  greater  measure  that  was 
to  follow.  But  even  with  this  sugaring  the  pill  was  bitter  in  the 
extreme  to  the  court  party,  and  thirty-three  lords  joined  in  protest- 
ing against  its  passage.  Nevertheless,  it  passed  in  the  lords  by  a 
majority  of  thirty-four,  and  the  king  felt  himself  compelled  to  affix 
his  signature.  George  III.  was  so  constituted,  and  had  been  so 
educated,  that  nothing  so  deeply  offended  him  as  to  be  obliged,  for 
constitutional  reasons,  to  assent  to  a  measure  of  which  he  disap- 
proved. George  III.  sat  upon  a  constitutional  throne,  but  he  had  an 
unconstitutional  mind.  He  entertained  the  erroneous  opinion,  that 
the  government  of  Great  Britain  was  a  limited  monarchy,  instead 
of  a  Hmited  democracy.  He  could  not  bring  himself  to  be  the 
Splendid  Nothing  which  an  hereditary,  constitutional  sovereign 
must  be ;  his  only  business  in  the  state  being  to  keep  the  Supreme 
Honor  out  of  competition  ;  or,  as  we  should  say,  to  save  the  enor- 
mous cost,  in  money  and  morals,  of  presidential  elections. 

At  that  day,  the  king  of  England  had  vast  means  of  corrupting 
members  of  Parliament.  A  large  proportion  of  both  Houses  appear 
to  have  been  expectants  of  good  things  which  were  not  to  be  had 
unless  with  the  king's  consent.  A  member  of  the  House  of  Com- 
mons is  reported  to  have  once  praised  with  enthusiasm  a  speech 
from  one  of  the  party  opposed  to  his  own.  "  Beautiful,  beautiful," 
he  exclaimed ;  "  it  absolutely  brought  the  tears  into  my  eyes." 
"  But,"  said  a  bystander,  "  your  vote  was  against  the  speaker's 
bill."  "  My  vote  !  Oh,  yes  ;  feelings  are  feelings  ;  but  my  vote  ! 
that's  quite  another  matter !"  The  published  papers  and  corre- 
spondence of  that  period  throw  abundant  light  upon  the  meaning 
of  this  honorable  member.  For  example :  among  the  papers  of  Mr. 
George  Grenville  were  found,  not  only  lists  of  the  sums  of  money 
given  to  members  of  parliament,  but  the  following  brief,  significant 
epistle  from  Lord  Say  and  Sele,  dated  in  1763  : 

"  Honored  Sir  : — I  am  very  much  obliged  to  you  for  that  free- 
dom of  converse  you  this  morning  indulged  me  in,  which  I  prize 
more  than  the  lucrative  advantage  I  then  received.  To  show  the 
sincerity  of  my  words  (pardon,  sir,  the  perhaps  over  niceness  of  my 
disposition),  I  return  inclosed  the  bill  for  £300  you  favored  me 
with,  as  good  manners  would  not  permit  my  refusal  of  it  when 
tendered  by  you.     Yours,  etc.,  Say  and  Sele. — ^P.  S.   As  a  free 


AGED    60.]  REACTION   AFTER   THE   REPEAL.  485 

horse  wants  no  spur,  so  I  stand  in  need  of  no  inducement  or  dou- 
ceur to  lend  my  small  assistance  to  the  king  or  his  friends  in  the 
present  administration."* 

It  was  probably  the  astonishing  and  unique  circumstance  of  the 
refusal  of  the  bribe  that  induced  the  minister  to  preserve  this  note, 
Sir  James  Mackintosh  remarks,  in  commenting  upon  one  of  Plunk- 
ett's  speeches :  "  It  is,  I  believe,  the  only  speech  which  is  certainly 
known  to  have  determined  the  votes  of  several  individuals."  And 
Lord  Erskine  declared,  that  nothing  but  the  corruption  of  Parlia- 
ment could  have  neutralized  the  effect  of  Burke's  immortal  orations 
in  behalf  of  America. 

We  have  testimony  upon  this  subject  much  more  explicit  and 
exact  in  the  Memoirs  of  Sir  Nathaniel  Wraxall,  who  sat  in  Parlia- 
ment during  a  great  part  of  the  period  when  America  was  the  con- 
stant topic  of  debate.  Few  works  have  been  more  bitterly  attacked 
than  this.  Its  faults  are  obvious  enough ;  but  the  general  trust- 
worthiness of  the  narrative  every  subsequent  publication  of  letters 
and  papers  of  the  period  has  strikingly  confirmed.  Wraxall  derived 
his  curious  knowledge  of  the  systematic  corruption  of  Parliament 
from  the  men  who  were  the  medium  of  corruption.  One  of  these 
persons,  a  member  of  Parliament  named  Roberts,  who  was  the  par- 
liamentary paymaster  under  the  Pelham  administration,  gave  this 
testimony  toward  the  close  of  his  life : 

"  Roberts,"  says  Wraxall,  "  avowed  without  reserve,  that  while 
he  remained  at  the  treasury,  there  were  a  number  of  members  who 
regularly  received  from  him  their  payment  or  stipend,  at  the  end 
of  every  session,  in  bank  notes.  The  sums,  which  varied  according 
to  the  merits,  ability,  and  attendance  of  the  respective  individuals, 
amounted  usually  from  five  hundred  pounds  to  eight  hundred 
pounds  per  annum.  '  This  largess  I  distributed,'  added  Roberts, 
'  in  the  Court  of  Requests,  on  the  day  of  the  prorogation  of  ParHa- 
ment.  I  took  my  stand  there ;  and  as  the  gentlemen  passed  me, 
in  going  to,  or  returning  from  the  House,  I  conveyed  the  money  in 
a  squeeze  of  the  hand.  Whatever  person  received  the  ministerial 
bounty  in  the  manner  thus  related,  I  entered  his  name  in  a  book, 
which  was  preserved  in  the  deepest  secrecy;  it  being  never  in- 
spected by  any  human  being,  except  the  king  and  Mr.  Pelham. 

*  Grenyille  Papers,  iii.,  145. 


486  LIFE   A^D   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1*766. 

On  the  decease  of  that  minister  in  1754,  his  brother,  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  Mr.  Fox,  afterwards  Lord  Holland,  and  others  of  the 
cabinet,  who  succeeded  to  power,  anxious  to  obtain  an  accurate 
knowledge  of  the  private  state  of  the  House  of  Commons,  and  par- 
ticularly to  ascertain  the  names  of  all  the  individuals  who  received 
money  during  Mr.  Pelham's  life,  applied  to  me  for  information. 
They  farther  demanded  of  me  to  surrender  the  book,  in  which,  as 
they  knew,  I  was  accustomed  to  enter  the  above  particulars.  Con- 
ceiving a  compliance  to  be  dishonorable,  I  peremptorily  refused  to 
deliver  it  up,  except  by  the  king's  express  command,  and  to  his 
majesty  in  person.  In  consequence  of  my  refusal,  they  acquainted 
the  king  wdth  the  circumstance,  who  sent  for  me  to  St.  James's, 
where  I  was  introduced  into  the  closet,  more  than  one  of  the 
above-mentioned  ministers  being  present.  George  the  Second 
ordered  me  to  return  him  the  book  in  question,  with  which  injunc- 
tion I  immediately  complied.  At  the  same  time  taking  the  poker 
in  his  hand,  he  put  it  into  the  fire,  made  it  red  hot,  and  then,  w^hile 
we  stood  round  him,  he  thrust  the  book  into  the  flames,  where  it 
was  immediately  reduced  to  ashes.'  " 

The  Duke  of  Newcastle,  though  he  did  not  get  the  book,  kept  a 
similar  one  of  his  own.  Under  Lord  Bute,  in  1763,  the  corrupter- 
general  was  Ross  Mackay,  who,  in  1790,  imparted  to  Wraxall  pre- 
cise information  of  his  proceedings. 

"  Lord  Besborough  having  called  after  dinner  for  a  bottle  of  ex- 
cellent champagne,  a  wine  to  w^hich  Mackay  was  partial,  and  the 
conversation  accidentally  turning  on  the  means  of  governing  the 
House  of  Commons,  Mackay  said  that  'Money  formed,  after  all, 
the  only  effectual  and  certain  method.'  'The  peace  of  1763,'  con- 
tinued he,  '  was  carried  through  and  approved  by  a  jDecuniary  dis- 
tribution. Nothing  else  could  have  surmounted  the  difficulty.  I 
was  myself  the  channel  through  which  the  money  passed.  With 
my  own  hand  I  secured  above  one  hundred  and  twenty  votes  on 
that  most  important  question  to  ministers.  Eighty  thousand 
pounds  were  set  apart  for  the  purpose.  Forty  members  of  the 
House  of  Commons  received  from  me  a  thousand  pounds  each. 
To  eighty  others  I  paid  five  hundred  pounds  apiece.'  Mackay 
afterwards  confirmed  more  than  once  this  fact  to  the  gentleman 
above-mentioned,  who  related  it  to  me.  What  attestation  so  strong 
of  the  truth  of  this  anecdote  can  be  produced  as  the  testimony  of 


AGED  60.]        REACTION  AFTER  THE  REPEAL.  487 

the  late  Bishop  of  Llandaff!  He  expressly  informs  us,  in  the 
'Anecdotes'  of  his  life,  just  published,  that  the  Earl  of  Shelburne, 
then  first  minister,  assured  him  on  the  lYth  of  February,  1783,  that 
Mie,'  Lord  Shelburne,  'well  knew,  that  above  sixty  thousand 
pounds  had  been  expended  (among  the  members  of  the  House  of 
Commons),  in  procuring  an  approbation  of  the  peace  of  1763.'" 

Wraxall  further  shows,  that  the  Duke -of  Grafton  and  Lord 
North  both  employed  the  same  means  of  securing  majorities.  Tow- 
ard the  end  of  Lord  North's  administration,  he  thinks  the  system 
had  become  more  "  refined,"  the  bribes  having  assumed  the  form 
of  contracts,  jobs,  shares  of  loans,  and  lottery  tickets ;  by  which, 
adds  the  author,  he  kept  his  majority,  little  diminished,  to  the  end 
of  the  American  revolution.  "Lord  North,"  he  says,  "was  sup- 
posed to  command  full  one  hundred  and  seventy  votes  at  his  abso- 
lute disposal,  who  were  prepared  to  vote  with  him  upon  every 
question." 

Paid  members  of  Parliament  would  naturally  be  the  stipendiaries 
of  the  minister,  rather  than  of  the  king.  But,  unhappily,  as  we 
have  intimated,  George  HL  was  bent  upon  aboHshing  the  distinc- 
tion between  king  and  minister.  The  flatterers  of  his  unstudious 
youth  had  not  imparted  to  him  the  notion  of  being  a  constitutional 
king.  Such  a  king,  they  truly  told  him,  was  "a  king  in  shackles." 
No  king  at  all,  an  ornamental  figure-head ;  the  minister  being  the 
real  captain  of  the  ship.  This  idea  it  was  over  which  the  unhappy 
monarch  brooded,  and  which  his  creatures  would  never  let  him 
forget.  "  If  your  majesty  consents,  you  are  '  a  king  in  shackles,'  " 
seems  to  have  been  their  famihar  mode  of  setting  him  against  a 
measure.  He  was  jealous  of  his  own  ministers ;  he  changed  them 
frequently ;  he  kept  the  government  and  kingdom  in  a  perpetual 
broil.  Few  men  in  history  present  so  many  non-essential  dissimilar- 
ities of  character  as  Andi-ew  Jackson  and  George  HI. ;  but  botli 
agree  in  this  :  they  strove  to  conduct  a  constitutional  governnient 
on  despotic  principles.  The  result  in  both  cases  was  confusion, 
corruption,  and  disaster.  In  the  first  ten  years  of  the  reign  of 
George  III.  there  was  a  change  of  ministers  about  as  often  as  once 
in  a  year  and  a  half,  and  it  was  said  at  the  time,  a  thousand  removals 
from  places  in  the  gift  of  ministers.  This  is  but  one  of  many  point  s 
of  resemblance  between  the  systems  of  Jackson  and  George  III. 
The  final  catastrophe,  too,  was  similar  in  both  cases.     From  the 


488  LIFE   AND   TIMES   OP   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l767. 

fourth  of  March,  1829,  until  the  fourth  of  March,  1861,  with  short 
intervals  of  partial  interruption,  Andrew  Jackson  ruled  the  govern- 
ment of  the  United  States  ;  and  as  twenty-five  years  of  George  III. 
lost  England  her  colonies,  so  thirty  years  of  Jackson  brought  the 
United  States  to  the  slaveholders'  rebellion.  The  most  terrible 
combination  in  the  universe  is  power,  ignorance,  will,  and  good  in- 
tentions. Both  of  these  men  loved  their  country,  and  both  did  all 
that  men  could  do  to  ruin  it. 

Besides  the  vulgar  corruption  of  Parliament,  the  king,  we  repeat, 
had  various  things  to  bestow  upon  those  who  pleased,  and  to  with- 
hold from  those  who  crossed  him,  which  many  of  the  ruling  classes 
sought  as  the  only  objects  of  desire  left  to  their  pursuit.  Ribbons, 
garters,  places,  and  favor  for  themselves ;  livings,  deaneries,  bishop- 
rics, pensions,  employment,  commissions,  promotion,  for  their  rela- 
tions, proteges,  and  dependents.  These  things  corrupted  men  whom 
bank  notes  could  not  reach.  "  I  know  the  map  of  England,"  said 
Burke  once,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  "and  I  know  that  the  way 
I  take  is  not  the  road  to  preferment ;"  glancing,  as  he  spoke,  at  men 
young  in  years,  but  old  in  office,  who  had  gained  from  subserviency 
to  the  king,  what  devotion  to  country  and  constitution  could  not 
hope  to  win. 

Four  months  after  the  Repeal,  court  influence  ousted  the  Rock- 
ingham cabinet,  and  brought  in  that  ministry  which  is  noted  as 
being  the  last  to  which  Lord  Chatham  belonged.  This  was  that  ad- 
ministration which  Burke  afterwards  described  as  being  "  so  check- 
ered and  speckled,  so  put  together  a  piece  of  joinery,  so  crossly  in- 
dented and  whimsically  dovetailed ;  a  cabinet  so  variously  inlaid ; 
such  a  piece  of  diversified  mosaic;  such  a  tesselated  pavement 
without  cement ;  here  a  bit  of  black  stone,  and  there  a  bit  of  white ; 
patriots  and  courtiers,  king's  friends  and  republicans ;  whigs  and 
tories ;  treacherous  friends  and  open  enemies  ;  that  it  was  indeed  a 
very  curious  show  ;  but  utterly  unsafe  to  touch,  and  unsure  to  stand 
on." 

"  When  the  face  of  the  chief,"  adds  Mr.  Burke,  "  was  hidden  but 
for  a  moment,  his  whole  system  was  liable  to  be  set  aside."  Often 
and  long  was  the  face  of  Lord  Chatham  hidden  from  his  colleagues. 
He  was  a  martyr  to  the  gout.  During  his  periods  of  seclusion,  meas- 
ures were  introduced  and  carried,  the  most  diametrically  opposed 
to  the  principles  with  which  his  name  was  identified.     One  year 


AGED    61.]  EEACTION   AFTER  THE    REPEAL.  489 

after  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act,  Mr.  Charles  Townsend,  the  witty 
and  unstable  Chancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  whom  Burke  styled  "  the 
delight  and  ornament  of  the  House  of  Commons,"  and  Hume,  "  the 
cleverest  fellow  in  England,"  renewed  the  attempt  to  raise  an 
American  revenue.  Inimitably  has  Burke  sketched  the  man  and 
his  schemes.  Townsend,  in  1765,  had  been  an  advocate  of  the 
Stamp  Act,  and  in  1766,  trimming  his  sails  to  the  prevailing  wind, 
had  taken  a  leading  part  in  its  repeal. 

"  The  very  next  session,"  says  Mr.  Burke,  in  one  of  his  most  cel- 
ebrated passages,  "  as  the  fashion  of  this  world  passeth  away,  the 
repeal  began  to  be  in  as  bad  an  odor  in  this  House  as  the  Stamp  Act 
had  been  in  the  session  before.  To  conform  to  the  temper  which 
began  to  prevail,  and  to  prevail  most  amongst  those  most  in  power, 
he  declared,  very  early  in  the  winter,  that  a  revenue  must  he  had 
out  of  America.  Instantly  he  was  tied  down  to  his  engagements 
by  some  who  had  no  objection  to  such  experiments  when  made  at 
the  cost  of  persons  for  whom  they  had  no  particular  regard.  The 
whole  body  of  courtiers  drove  him  onward.  They  always  talked  as 
if  the  king  stood  in  a  sort  of  humiliated  state  until  so7nething  of 
the  kind  should  be  done, 

"  Here  this  extraordinary  man  found  himself  in  great  straits.  To 
please  universally  was  the  object  of  his  life;  but  to  tax  and  to 
please,  no  more  than  to  love  and  be  wise,  is  not  given  to  men. 
However,  he  attempted  it.  To  render  the  tax  palatable  to  the  par- 
tisans of  American  revenue,  he  made  a  preamble,  stating  the  neces- 
sity of  such  a  revenue.  To  close  with  the  American  distinction, 
this  revenue  was  external  or  port  duty  ;  but  again,  to  soften  it  to 
the  other  party,  it  was  a  duty  of  supply.  To  gratify  the  colonists, 
it  was  laid  on  British  manufactures ;  to  satisfy  the  merchants  of 
JBritain,  the  duty  was  trivial,  and  (except  that  on  tea,  which  touch- 
ed only  the  devoted  East  India  Company)  on  none  of  the  grand 
objects  of  commerce.  To  counterwork  the  American  contraband, 
the  duty  on  tea  was  reduced  from  a  shilling  to  threepence.  But  to 
secure  the  favor  of  those  who  would  tax  America,  the  scene  of  col- 
lection was  changed,  and,  with  the  rest,  it  was  levied  in  the  colo- 
nies. What  need  I  say  more  ?  This  fine-spun  scheme  had  the 
usual  fate  of  all  exquisite  policy.  But  the  original  plan  of  the  du- 
ties, and  the  mode  of  executing  that  plan,  both  arose  singly  and 
solely  from  a  love  of  our  applause.  He  was  truly  the  child  of  the 
21* 


490  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.  [l767. 

House.  He  never  thought,  did,  or  said  any  thing  but  with  a  view 
to  you.  He  every  day  adapted  himself  to  your  disposition  ;  and 
adjusted  himself  before  it,  as  at  a  looking-glass." 

It  thus  appears,  that  while  the  freak  of  a  parliamentary  pet  was 
the  immediate  occasion  of  the  renewal  of  this  bitter  and  fatal 
strife,  the  influence  of  the  king  and  the  king's  patronage  was  the 
true  source  of  the  mischief.  The  proposed  duties  on  paper,  paints, 
glass  and  tea,  being  designed  to  produce  only  forty  thousand  pounds 
a  year,  observes  Horace  Walpole,  were  little  considered  and  lightly 


How  instantly  the  colonies  resented  this  new  attempt,  and  how 
resolutely  they  continued  their  opposition  to  it,  every  reader  of  Mr. 
Bancroft's  complete  and  sympathetic  narrative  knows.  They  ob- 
jected to  the  new  system  in  all  its  parts  :  to  the  duties  themselves, 
to  the  new  mode  of  collecting  the  duties,  and  particularly  to  the 
scheme  of  making  the  colonial  governors  and  judges  the  mere  crea- 
tures of  the  crown  by  appropriating  part  of  the  new  revenues  to 
the  payment  of  their  salaries. 

The  news  of  the  resistance  in  the  colonies  to  Mr.  Townsend's 
system  appears  to  have  roused  in  England  resentment  only.  The 
court  party  insisted  that  these  measures  had  nothing  in  common 
with  the  Stamp  Act,  except  that  they  were  designed  to  raise  reve- 
nue. All  the  objections  urged  against  the  Stamp  Act,  they  said, 
had  been  skillfully  avoided  in  framing  the  new  laws,  and  it  was 
plain  the  Americans  were  resolved  on  resisting  all  authority,  and 
obeying  only  such  laws  as  chanced  to  be  perfectly  agreeable  to  all 
classes  and  conditions  of  men. 

An  amusing  scene  in  the  House  of  Commons,  which  occurred 
soon  after  the  tidings  reached  England  of  the  new  commotions  in 
America,  shows  something  of  the  temper  of  the  Grenvillians. 
Franklin  himself  tells  the  story  in  one  of  his  letters  of  1767 : 

"  Mr.  Grenville  had  been  raving  against  America  as  traitorous 
and  rebellious,  when  Colonel  Onslow,  who  has  always  been  our 
firm  friend,  stood  up  and  gravely  said,  that  in  reading  the  Roman 
history  he  found  it  was  a  custom  among  that  wise  and  magnani- 
mous people,  whenever  the  senate  was  informed  of  any  discontent 
in  the  provinces,  to  send  two  or  three  of  their  body  into  the  dis 
contented  provinces,  to  inquire  into  the  grievances  complained  of, 
and  report  to  the  senate,  that  mild  measures  might  be  used  to 


AGED    61.]  REACTION   AFTER   THE    REPEAL.  ,  491 

remedy  what  was  amiss,  before  any  severe  steps  were  taken  to  en- 
force obedience.  This  example  he  thought  worthy  of  our  imitation 
in  the  present  state  of  our  colonies,  for  he  did  so  far  agree  witli 
the  honorable  gentleman  that  spoke  just  before  him,  as  to  allow 
there  was  great  discontents  among  them.  He  should  therefore  beg 
leave  to  move,  that  two  or  three  members  of  Parliament  be  ap- 
pointed to  go  over  to  New  England  on  this  service.  And  that  it 
might  not  be  supposed  he  was  for  imposing  burdens  on  others 
which  he  would  not  be  willing  to  bear  himself,  he  did  at  the  same 
time  declare  his  own  willingness,  if  the  House  should  think  fit  to 
appoint  them,  to  go  over  thither  with  that  honorable  gentleman. 
Upon  this  there  was  a  great  laugh,  which  continued  some  time, 
and  was  rather  increased  by  Mr.  Grenville's  asking,  '  Will  the  gen- 
tleman engage  that  I  shall  be  safe  there  ?  Can  I  be  assured  that  I 
shall  be  allowed  to  come  back  again  to  make  the  report?'  As 
soon  as  the  laugh  was  so  far  subsided  as  that  Mr.  Onslow  could  be 
heard  again,  he  added,  '  I  cannot  absolutely  engage  for  the  honor- 
able gentleman's  safe  return  ;  but,  if  he  goes  thither  upon  this  ser- 
vice, I  am  strongly  of  the  opinion  the  eve^it  will  contribute  greatly 
to  the  future  quiet  of  both  countries.'  On  which  the  laugh  was 
renewed  and  redoubled." 

Mr.  Burke,  in  one  of  his  letters  to  the  Marquis  of  Rockingham, 
mentions  that  he  had  just  sent  a  jockey  to  a  racing  friend  in  Vir- 
ginia, and  adds,  that  George  Grenville,  if  he  could  have  helped  it, 
would  not  have  suffered  even  a  jockey  "to  be  entered  outwards 
without  bond  and  certificate ;  or,  at  least,  he  would  have  had  them 
stamped,  or  excised,  or  circumcised  ;  or  something  should  be  done 
to  them  to  bear  the  burden  of  this  poor,  oppressed  country,  and 
relieve  the  landed  interest."* 

Out  of  doors  the  clamor  was  loud  against  America,  as  the 
newspapers  and  pamphlets  still  testify.  England  has  always  un- 
derstood America  too  late.  On  this  occasion,  as  on  so  many  others, 
the  majority  of  the  people  of  England  attributed  to  faction  and 
avarice,  conduct  which,  when  truly  informed,  they  applauded  as 
just,  spirited,  and  patriotic. 

*  Works  and  Correspondence  of  Et  Hon.  Edmund  Burke,  1.,  215. 


492  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1767. 

CHAPTER  IV. 

OFFICIAL   LABORS   FROM    l766    TO    1773. 

Dr.  Franklin  was  late  in  penetrating  the  secret  of  English  poli- 
tics ;  he  knew  not  the  intellect  of  the  king.  Not  till  the  middle  of 
1773  did  he  begin  to  suspect  that  the  bad  influence  which  prevented 
the  adoption  of  the  true  colonial  policy  emanated  from  the  royal 
closet.  Fox  knew  this  in  1775,  and  may  have  communicated  it 
then  to  his  friend  Franklin,  as  he  did,  with  ingenious  audacity,  to 
Parliament.  All  the  world  knows  it  now ;  for  by  the  publication 
of  the  papers,  diaries,  and  correspondence  of  Grenville,  Chatham, 
Bedford,  Wilkes,  Grafton,  Walpole,  North,  and  others,  the  first 
half  of  the  reign  of  George  III.  has  been  laid  open  to  the  scrutiny 
of  every  one  who  subscribes  to  a  library. 

Yet  we  are  not  to  wonder  that  Dr.  Franklin  was  long  in  finding 
it  out.  George  III.  was  a  gentleman.  He  was  a  brave,  honest  gen- 
tleman, a  fond  father,  a  faithful  and  tender  husband  ;  abstemious, 
diligent,  liberal;  a  bountiful  and  considerate  friend.  Unlike  his 
predecessor,  he  encouraged  the  arts  and  science.  He  was  the  patron 
of  Franklin's  friend  and  countryman,  Benjamin  West.  He  had  a 
nightly  concert  at  Windsor  Castle  of  Handel's  music.  He  sought 
an  interview  with  Johnson.  He  enabled  Herschel  to  construct  his 
great  telescope.  To  the  timorous  Miss  Burney  he  was,  indeed,  a 
most  gracious  king.  Such  acts  and  traits  as  these  won  the 
warm  regard  of  Franklin,  who  constantly  attended  the  court  on 
birthdays  and  other  occasions  of  ceremony,  and  to  whom  the  king 
was  personally  kind. 

The  queen's  physician  at  this  time  was  Sir  John  Pringle,  who  was 
one  of  Dr.  Franklin's  most  intimate  companions;  and  it  is  probable 
that  he  learned  from  Sir  John  how  simply  and  naturally  the  royal 
family  hved,  and  how  attached  to  each  other  were  the  young  king 
and  queen,  and  how  fond  both  were  of  their  infant  children.  It 
must  have  delighted  Franklin  to  hear  of  his  king  hunting  twelve 
hours,  and  refreshing  himself  at  the  end  of  the  hunt  with  a  draught 
of  barley  water. 

Moreover,  it  had  now  become  Franklin's  opinion,  that  the  king, 
not  Parliament,  was  the  tie  which  bound  the  colonies  to  the  mother 


AGED    61.]  OFFIClAIi  LABOES   FROM    1766    TO    1773.  493 

country.  England  had  its  parliament ;  Ireland  had  its  parliament ; 
Scotland  had  had  its  parliament ;  Massachusetts,  Pennsylvania, 
Virginia,  and  the  other  colonies  had  their  parliaments ;  but  the  king 
was  king  in  England,  Ireland,  Scotland,  and  America ;  and  hence 
these  countiies  formed  one  empire.  Canada  and  India  were  con- 
quered provinces,  and  were,  therefore,  ruled  as  the  conqueror  chose. 
The  colonies,  on  the  contrary,  were  parts  of  the  empire,  equal  in 
honor,  in  law,  in  privilege,  in  every  thing,  to  the  mother  country. 
And  as  Scotland  had  merged  her  parliament  in  the  Parliament  of 
Great  Britain,  so  it  were  well  if  the  American  colonies  should  send 
representatives  to  the  same  body.  But,  as  this  was  not  desired,  the 
king,  and  the  king  only,  had  authority  to  interfere  in  the  govern- 
ment of  America. 

This  doctrine  (which  at  once  found  favor  in  America,  and  was 
afterward  warmly  espoused  in  Ireland)  had  the  effect  of  increasing 
in  Dr.  Franklin  the  sentiment  of  loyalty  to  the  sovereign,  and,  in 
the  same  proportion,  to  strengthen  his  opposition  to  the  new 
measures. 

Those  measures,  however,  he  was  powerless  to  prevent  or  delay. 
Retaining  his  former  intimacy  with  General  Conway  and  Lord 
Shelburne,  he  endeavored  to  engage  them  in  his  old  scheme  of  set- 
tling the  western  country,  and  thus  providing  a  living  defense  to 
the  Atlantic  colonies,  and  lessening  the  expense  of  forts  and  troops. 
In  his  constant  intercourse  with  society j  he  circulated  correct  knowl- 
edge and  correct  opinions  respecting  the  colonies.  But  such  mild 
influences  as  these  could  not  stay  the  tide  of  reaction. 

In  the  summer  of  1767,  after  the  session  of  Parliament,  and  before 
the  effect  in  America  of  the  new  duties  was  known  in  England,  Dr. 
Franklin  made  his  first  visit  to  Paris,  accompanied  by  his  friend 
Sir  John  Pringle.  The  two  philosophers  appear  to  have  had  a 
merry  holiday,  gazing  at  Parisian  novelties  with  the  eager  joy  of 
schoolboys  in  a  vacation.  We  may  return  to  their  excursion  if  time 
and  space  permit.     At  present,  let  us  adhere  to  politics. 

Returning  to  town  and  to  business,  after  a  month's  holiday,  is 
dull  work  at  all  times.  On  this  occasion  our  gay  excursionist  was 
met  by  ill  news  and  hard  tasks.  America  was  once  more  in  a  fer- 
ment. The  people  of  New  England  were  again  resolving  to  forego 
the  use  of  British  manufactures,  and,  what  was  more  important, 
were  bent  upon  establishing  manufactures  of  their  own — a  project 


494  LIFE    AXD   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1767. 

terrible  to  British  ears.  The  people  and  politicians  of  England 
were  indignant  at  those  proceedings,  conceiving  it  an  enormous  im- 
pertinence that  colonists  should  even  meditate  the  making  of  their 
own  cloth  and  cutlery.  "  The  newspapers,"  Franklin  wrote,  "  are 
in  full  cry  against  America.  Colonel  Onslow  told  me  at  court  last 
Sunday,  that  I  could  not  conceive  how  much  the  friends  of  America 
were  run  upon  and  hurt,  and  how  much  the  Grenvillians  triumph- 
ed." Besides  urging  his  scheme  of  settling  the  Blinois  country, 
Franklin,  on  resuming  his  duties  in  London,  attempted  to  set  the 
people  of  England  right  with  regard  to  the  new  excitement  in 
America. 

Reflection  upon  the  whole  subject  of  the  connection  between 
England  and  America  had  sharpened  both  his  perceptions  and  his 
feelings.  He  was  heart  and  soul  with  his  countrymen.  "  I  have 
some  little  property  in  America,"  he  wrote,  upon  hearing  that  cer- 
tain lords  had  protested  against  the  repeal  of  the  Stamp  Act ;  "  I 
will  freely  spend  nineteen  shillings  in  the  pound  to  defend  my  right 
of  giving  or  refusing  the  other  shilling ;  and,  after  all,  if  I  cannot 
defend  that  right,  I  can  retire  cheerfully  with  my  little  family  into 
the  boundless  woods  of  America,  which  are  sure  to  afford  freedom 
and  subsistence  to  any  man  who  can  bait  a  hook  or  pull  a  trigger." 
In  the  spirit  of  this  passage  he  acted  thenceforward  to  the  glorious 
end  of  the  struggle  in  1783. 

At  the  height  of  the  clamor  against  America  in  1767,  he  wrote  an 
extensive  article  for  the  London  Chronicle^  vindicating  and  explain- 
ing the  conduct  of  his  countrymen.  Soon  after,  he  stirred  up  Dr. 
Priestley  to  publish  an  "  Address  to  Dissenters,"  upon  the  same 
subject.*  Early  in  1768  he  received  from  Philadelphia  a  copy  of 
twelve  letters,  which  had  appeared  in  the  American  newspapers 
over  the  signature  of  "  Farmer,"  which  well  expressed  the  feelings 
of  the  colonists  with  regard  to  the  new  system.  The  author  of 
these  letters  was  Mr.  John  Dickinson,  of  Philadelphia,  Frankhn's 
former  opponent  in  the  Assembly.  All  provincial  differences  were 
now  forgotten,  and  Franklin  published  the  Farmer's  Letters  in 
London,  with  a  commendatory  preface.  A  year  later,  the  Farmer's 
Letters,  owing  to  their  London  celebrity,  were  translated  into 
French  and  pubUshed   at  Paris.     Dr.  Franklin  published  in  the 

*  Lffe  of  Dr.  Priestley,  i.,  60. 


AGED    61.]  OFFICIAL   LABOIlS   FROM    176GT0    1'7'73.  495 

newspapers  of  these  years,  a  considerable  number  of  homely,  hu- 
morous, short  essays  upon  American  topics,  appending  to  them  such 
signatures  as  Atticus,  Pacificus,  Secundus,  Amicus;  or  such  as 
Homespun  and  the  like.  These  articles  appear  in  the  American 
newspapers  of  the  time  under  this  heading :  "  Dr.  Franklin's  Pieces, 
in  Answer  to  the  Writers  against  North  America,  extracted  from 
English  newspapers."  Some  of  these  pieces  are  so  fall  of  wit,  sense, 
and  information,  and  are  so  evidently  Franklin's,  that  they  might 
properly  have  had  a  place  in  his  collected  works. 

In  his  publications  upon  the  points  of  dispute  between  the  mother 
country  and  the  colonies,  he  employed  a  good  deal  of  art.  His 
Chronicle  piece,  for  example,  to  which  allusion  has  just  been  made, 
was  extremely  ingenious.  Writing  anonymously,  and  as  an  English- 
man, he  did  not  attempt  to  controvert  the  universal  opinion,  that 
the  Americ^ms  were  afflicted  with  political  lunacy.  On  the  contra- 
ry, he  affected  to  take  their  lunacy  for  granted,  and  only  sought  to 
show  by  what  strange  process  of  reasoning  they  had  been  brought 
to  such  a  deplorable  pass.  To  the  mad  Americans,  he  said,  such 
preposterous  notions  as  these  had  occurred  : 

"  Iron  is  to  be  found  everywhere  in  America,  and  the  beaver 
furs  are  the  natural  products  of  that  country.  Hats,  and  nails,  and 
steel  are  wanted  there  as  well  as  here.  It  is  of  no  importance  to 
the  common  welfare  of  the  empire,  whether  a  subject  of  the  king 
obtains  his  living  by  making  hats  on  this  or  on  that  side  of  the 
water.  Yet  the  hatters  of  England  have  prevailed  to  obtain  an  act 
in  their  own  favor,  restraining  that  manufacture  in  America ;  in 
order  to  oblige  the  Americans  to  send  their  beaver  to  England  to 
be  manufactured,  and  purchase  back  the  hats,  loaded  with  the 
charges  of  a  double  transportation.  In  the  same  manner  have  a 
few  nail-makers,  and  a  still  smaller  body  of  steel-makers  (perhaps 
there  are  not  half  a  dozen  of  these  in  England),  prevailed  totally  to 
forbid  by  an  act  of  Parliament  the  erecting  of  slitting-mills,  or  steel- 
furnaces  in  America."  And  again  :  "  The  whole  American  people 
were  forbidden  the  advantage  of  a  direct  importation  of  wine,  oil, 
and  fruit,  from  Portugal,  but  must  take  them  loaded  with  all  the 
expense  of  a  voyage  one  thousand  leagues  round  about,  being  to  be 
landed  first  in  England,  to  be  reshipped  for  America;  expenses 
amounting,  in  war  time  at  least,  to  thirty  pounds  per  cent,  more 
than  otherwise  they  would  have  been  charged  with ;  and  all  this, 


496  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [lYSS. 

merely  that  a  few  Portugal  merchants  in  London  may  gain  a  com- 
mission on  those  goods  passing  through  their  hands." 

Having  given  a  dozen  paragraphs  of  this  nature,  containing  a 
most  powerful  and  unanswerable  statement  of  American  griev- 
ances, he  slily  concluded  with  these  words :  "  These  are  the  wild 
ravings  of  the,  at  present,  half  distracted  Americans.  To  be  sure, 
no  reasonable  man  in  England  can  approve  of  such  sentiments,  and, 
as  I  said  before,  I  do  not  pretend  to  support  or  justify  them  ;  but  I 
sincerely  wish,  for  the  sake  of  the  manufactures  and  commerce  of 
Great  Britain,  and  for  the  sake  of  the  strength  which  a  firm  union 
with  our  growing  colonies  would  give  us,  that  these  people  had 
never  been  thus  needlessly  driven  out  of  their  senses." 

There  were  various  reasons  for  the  employment  of  these  artifices. 
Franklin  was  a  humorist  by  nature ;  practice  had  made  him  an 
artist  in  humor.  If  he  had  lived  in  London  in  these  times  he  would, 
perhaps,  have  been  a  satirical  novelist  and  contributor  to  Punch. 
This  fine  gift  of  humor,  which  was  the  specialty  of  his  mind,  led 
him  to  clothe  his  thoughts  with  fanciful,  transparent  disguises,  and 
play  games  of  bo-peep  with  his  readers.  But  there  were  also  con- 
siderations of  prudence  which  he,  a  deputy  postmaster-general,  the 
father  of  a  colonial  governor,  and  the  relative  of  a  dozen  employes 
under  both,  could  not  disregard.  Benjamin  Franklin  was  a  man 
capable  of  risking  every  thing  he  had  for  a  principle,  and  did  so 
more  than  once  ;  but  he  was  never  disposed  to  risk  any  important 
interest  wantonly.  Like  Montaigne,  he  would  follow  the  right 
cause  to  the  stake,  but  he  would  avoid  the  stake  if  he  could.  His 
employment  under  the  crown  had  become  a  matter  of  consequence 
to  him.  The  thousand  pounds  a  year  which  he  had  received  from 
his  partner,  David  Hall,  for  eighteen  years,  ceased  in  1766,  and 
having  two  households  to  maintain,  he  was  in  real  need  of  his  post- 
office  income.  At  this  time,  too,  the  political  interests  of  himself 
and  his  son  were  supposed  to  be  the  same  ;  as  the  son  had  been  ap- 
pointed for  the  father's  sake,  so  he  might  be  removed  for  the  father's 
offense. 

Early  in  1768,  along  with  other  changes  in  the  ministry,  and  all 
for  the  worse,  came  in  Lord  Sandwich  as  postmaster-general ;  who, 
being  of  the  Bedford,  reactionary  party,  was  of  opinion  that  Dr. 
Franklin  was  "  too  much  of  an  American"  to  hold  an  office  under 
the  crown.     At  the  same  time,  another  minister,  the  Duke  of  Graf- 


A(5ED    62.]  OFFICIAL   LABOES   FROM    l766    TO    1773.  497 

ton,  a  man  of  liberal  tendencies,  appears  to  have  entertained  the 
project  of  giving  him  a  better  office,  and  one  which  would  have 
brought  him  into  confidential  relations  with  ministers.  Between 
these  two  factions  in  the  same  cabinet,  Franklin  had  a  difficult  part 
to  play ;  since  Grafton's  favor  tended  to  provoke  Sandwich's  en- 
mity, and  if  Grafton's  benevolence  was  frustrated,  Sandwich's  enmi- 
ty might  prevail.  There  were  messages  and  replies,  appointments 
and  disappointments,  interviews  that  led  to  nothing,  and  all  the 
usual  circumstances  of  a  negotiation  in  which  one  party  is  powerful, 
the  other  indifferent,  and  each  desirous  to  know  what  the  other 
expects. 

Franklin's  real  feelings  during  this  negotiation  were  revealed  in  a 
confidential  letter  to  Ms  son.  "  I  did  not  think  fit,"  he  wrote,  "  to 
decline  any  favor  so  great  a  man  had  expressed  an  inclination  to  do 
me,  because  at  court,  if  one  shows  an  unwillingness  to  be  obliged, 
it  is  often  construed  as  a  mark  of  mental  hostility,  and  one  makes 
an  enemy  ;  yet,  so  great  is  my  inclination  to  be  at  home  and  at  rest, 
that  I  shall  not  be  sorry  if  this  business  falls  through,  and  I  am 
suffered  to  retire  with  my  old  post ;  nor  indeed  very  sorry  if  they 
take  that  from  me  too  on  account  of  my  zeal  for  America,  in  which 
some  of  my  friends  have  hinted  to  me  that  I  have  been  too  open. 
*         *  We  have  lost  Lord  Clare  from  the  Board  of 

Trade.  He  took  me  home  from  court  the  Sunday  before  his  remov- 
al, that  I  might  dine  with  him  as  he  said  alone,  and  talk  over 
American  affairs.  He  seemed  as  attentive  to  them  as  if  he  was  to 
continue  ever  so  long.  He  gave  me  a  great  deal  of  flummery  ;  say- 
ing that,  though  at  my  examination  I  answered  some  of  his  ques- 
tions a  little  pertly,  yet  he  liked  me,  from  that  day,  for  the  spirit  I 
showed  in  defense  of  my  country ;  and  at  parting,  after  we  had 
drunk  a  bottle  and  a  half  of  claret  each,  he  hugged  and  kissed  me, 
protesting  he  never  in  his  life  met  with  a  man  he  was  so  much  in  love 
with.     This  I  write  for  your  amusement." 

He  concludes  this  letter  by  saying  that  if  George  Grenville  should 
return  to  power,  which  seemed  not  unlikely,  he  would  refuse  every 
ministerial  office ;  for,  in  that  case,  he  apprehended  "  a  breach 
between  the  two  countries."  "So  you  see,"  he  adds,  "a  turn  of  a 
die  may  make  a  great  difference  in  our  affairs.  We  may  be  either 
promoted  or  discarded  ;  one  or  the  other  seems  likely  soon  to  bo 
the  case,  but  it  is  hard  to  divine  which.     I  am  myself  grown  so  old 


498  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIJf   FRAIfKLIIir.  [1768. 

as  to  feel  much  less  than  formerly  the  spur  of  ambition ;  and,  if  it 
were  not  for  the  flattering  expectation,  that  by  being  fixed  here  I 
might  more  effectually  serve  my  country,  I  should  certainly  deter- 
mine for  retirement  without  a  moment's  hesitation." 

The  ill  design  of  Lord  Sandwich,  and  the  good  wishes  of  the 
Duke  of  Grafton,  were  equally  fruitless.  Franklin  retained  his  post- 
mastership.  "  My  enemies,"  he  wrote  to  his  sister,  "  were  forced  to 
content  themselves  with  abusing  me  plentifully  in  the  newspapers? 
and  endeavoring  to  provoke  me  to  resign.  In  this  they  are  not 
likely  to  succeed,  I  being  deficient  in  that  Christian  virtue  of  resig- 
nation.    If  they  would  have  my  ofiice,  they  must  take  it." 

The  efforts  of  Dr.  Franklin  to  set  the  people  of  England  right 
with  regard  to  America  produced  not  the  smallest  perceptible  effect. 
This  year,  176  8,  was  the  year  in  which  the  Wilkes-and-liberty 
madness  raged  in  England  with  its  utmost  violence  ;  a  madness 
wholly  due  to  the  ignorance  and  infatuation  of  the  king.  Extrava- 
gant, dissolute,  and  base,  deeply  in  debt,  and  without  powerful 
connections  or  genuine  talent,  Wilkes  needed  only  to  be  let  alone 
to  vanish  soon  from  the  public  scene.  Precipitate  and  unlawful 
arrest,  virulent  and  groundless  prosecutions,  made  him  for  many 
years  the  idol  of  both  continents ;  for  Wilkes  and  Liberty  was  as 
familiar  a  cry  in  Philadelphia  and  Boston  as  in  London.  Returning 
irom  exile  in  the  spring  of  this  year,  he  was  ag.dn  elected  to  Par- 
liament, from  which  the  king  had  caused  him  to  be  expelled.  The 
popular  rejoicing  on  this  occasion  exceeded  every  thing  of  the  kind 
on  record.  "  London,"  writes  Franklin,  "  was  illuminated  two  nights 
running,  at  the  command  of  the  mob,  for  the  success  of  Wilkes,  in 
the  Middlesex  election.  The  second  night  exceeded  any  thing  of 
the  kind  ever  seen  here  on  the  greatest  occasions  of  rejoicing,  as 
even  the  small  cross-streets,  lanes,  courts,  and  other  out-of-the-way 
places  were  all  in  a  blaze  with  lights,  and  the  principal  streets  all 
night  long,  as  the  mobs  went  round  again  after  two  o'clock,  and 
obliged  people  who  had  extinguished  their  candles  to  light  them 
again.  Those  who  refused  had  all  their  windows  destroyed.  The 
damage  done,  and  expense  of  candles,  have  been  computed  at  fifty 
thousand  pounds."  The  mob,  he  adds,  went  about  roaring  and 
singing,  ''  requiring  gentlemen  and  ladies  of  all  ranks,  as  they  passed 
in  their  carriages,  to  shout  for  Wilkes  and  Liberty,  marking  the  same 
words  on  all  their  coaches  with  chalk,  and  No.  45  on  every  door ' 


AGED  G2.]     OFFICIAL  LABORS  FEOM  1766  TO  l773.  490 

which  extends  a  vast  way  along  the  roads  into  the  country.  I  went 
last  week  to  Winchester,  and  observed,  that  for  fifteen  miles  out  of 
town  there  was  scarce  a  door  or  window  shutter  next  the  road  un- 
marked ;  and.  this  continued,  here  and  there,  quite  to  Winchester, 
which  is  sixty-four  miles." 

Forty-five  was  the  number  of  the  North  Briton  upon  which  the 
original  prosecution  for  libel  and  sedition  was  founded.  I  may  add, 
that  the  law  expenses  attending  and  following  this  prosecution, 
which  amounted,  as  Lord  North  confessed,  to  more  than  one  hun- 
dred thousand  pounds,  were  voluntarily  assumed  and  defrayed 
by  the  king.  * 

At  such  a  time  as  this,  in  such  a  country,  what  could  be  effected 
by  the  calm  voice  of  reason  and  good  humor,  pleading  the  cause  of 
a  distant  and  unknown  people,  of  whom,  as  Franklin  said,  every  man 
in  England  felt  himself  to  be  a  fraction  of  a  sovereign  ?  In  Eng- 
land, too.  Dr.  Franklin,  eminent  as  a  philosopher,  and  enjoying 
much  social  distinction,  was  a  political  cipher ;  i.  e.,  he  had  neither 
power  nor  patronage,  and  no  influence  with  those  who  had  power 
and  patronage.  His  countrymen,  however,  appreciated  his  exertions 
in  their  behalf;  not  yet  suspecting  that  those  exertions  could  in  the 
end  be  unavailing.  In  the  spring  of  1768,  while  the  Duke  of  Graf- 
ton was  luring  him  with  the  prospect  of  a  place,  and  while  he  was 
preparing  for  the  third  time  to  return  to  America,  came  news  that 
the  young  colony  of  Georgia  had  appointed  him  its  London  agent. 
He  had  not  an  acquaintance  in  that  colony.  It  is  not  improbable 
that  he  owed  this  unexpected  honor  to  his  early  friendship  with 
Whitefield,  who  had  great  influence  in  Georgia,  and  would  natu- 
rally have  spoken  much  there  of  his  Pennsylvanian  friend  and 
publisher.  This  appointment  induced  him  to  postpone  his  departure 
for  a  time.  Next  year  New  Jersey  selected  him  for  her  agent,  and 
the  year  following,  his  native  province  of  Massachusetts.  These 
appointments,  together  with  the  threatening  aspect  of  colonial 
affairs,  and  the  urgent  entreaties  of  liberal  men  in  England  and 
patriotic  men  in  America,  detained  him  still  at  his  post  in  London. 
For  ten  years  he  was  always  on  the  point  of  returning ;  for  ten 
years  events  were  continually  frustrating  his  design. 

His  new  appointments  had  the  effect  of  placing  him  at  ease  in  hi  3 

*  Correspondence  of  John  Wilkes,  i..  134. 


500  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF    BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1768. 

circumstances.  Pennsylvania  paid  her  agent  five  hundred  pounds  a 
year ;  Massachusetts,  four  hundred ;  Georgia,  two  hundred ;  New 
Jersey,  one  hundred.  His  election  as  agent  for  the  important  prov- 
ince of  Massachusetts  was  not  unanimous.  On  the  contrary,  there 
was  a  vigorous  opposition  to  it  headed  by  no  less  eminent  a  per- 
son than  Samuel  Adams.  The  objections  to  him  were  his  heteredox 
creed,  and  the  moderation  of  his  political  system.  As  in  England 
Dr.  Franklin  was  denounced  by  the  ministry  as  too  much  of  an 
American,  so  in  America  the  more  ardent  patriots  thought  him  too 
much  an  Englishman.  In  England  he  spoke  and  wrote  of  his 
countrymen  only  to  justify,  commend,  or  excuse  them ;  to  friends  in 
America  he  wrote  by  every  ship  counseling  moderation  and  for- 
bearance, beseeching  them  to  give  the  enemies  of  America  no  handle 
against  her.  His  entire  influence  and  all  the  resources  of  his  mind 
were  employed  from  the  beginning  of  the  controversy  in  1765  to 
the  first  conflict  in  1775,  to  the  one  object  of  healing  the  breach  and 
preventing  the  separation.  This  line  of  conduct  it  was  which  gave 
to  such  men  as  Samuel  Adams  the  impression  that  Franklin's  love 
of  liberty  and  justice  was  tempered  by  his  possession  of  an  office 
under  government,  and  made  them  prefer  such  a  representative  as 
Arthur  Lee.  Some  influence  adverse  to  Franklin  was  exerted  by 
proprietary  leaders  in  Philadelphia,  whose  advice  was  sought  by 
members  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly.  However,  after  consider- 
able debate,  Franklin  received  the  votes  of  two-thirds  of  the  House, 
and  Arthur  Lee,  of  Virginia,  the  candidate  of  the  opposition,  was 
elected  his  substitute,  to  take  the  place  of  agent  in  case  of  Dr. 
Franklin's  return  to  America  or  absence  from  London. 

The  ministry  regarded  these  new  honors  with  no  friendly  eye. 
Wisdom  had  now  departed  from  the  counsels  of  the  king.  Chat- 
ham, Conway,  and  Shelburne  had  long  ago  resigned.  The  fools 
and  sycophants  had  it  all  their  own  way.  It  is  the  unhappiness  of 
such  rulers  as  George  III.  that  they  are  served,  not  by  ministers  but 
by  creatures ;  creatures  who  win  the  highest  honors  of  the  state  by 
deserving  its  deepest  contempt.  Hence,  during  these  years,  we  find 
in  the  high  places  of  England  only  third-rate  men  in  point  of  under- 
standing, or  infamous  men  in  point  of  character ;  while  statesmen  of 
talent  and  independence  gave  up,  at  length,  even  the  remote  expec- 
tation of  office.  A  stupid  man  takes  to  a  stupid  man.  A  man  of 
understanding  loves  a  man  of  understanding.     George  III.  had  an 


AGED    62.]  OFFICIAL   LABOKS   CONTINUED.  501 

instinctive  antipathy  to  able  men ;  which  antipathy,  upon  very  slight 
provocation,  could  degenerate  into  rooted  abhorrence.  Burke, 
Chatham,  Fox,  Barre',  Conway,  Shelburne,  all  enjoyed  the  honor 
of  his  aversion  while  they  were  faithful  to  their  country  and  its 
constitution  ;  the  king  softening  towards  Burke  only  when,  scared 
by  the  horrors  of  the  French  Revolution,  that  illustrious  man  threw 
himself  headlong  into  the  ranks  of  reaction.  And  thus  it  was  that 
the  conduct  of  the  mother  country  toward  the  colonies  grew  more 
and  more  exasperating.  Even  when  the  government  conceded 
something  to  the  Americans,  the  concession  being  either  inade- 
quate or  too  late,  was  felt  to  be  insult  added  to  injury. 


CHAPTER  V. 

OFFICIAL  LABORS   CONTINTrED. 

British  troops  had  been  landed  in  Boston,  amid  the  silent  rage 
of  the  people.  Fourteen  men-of-war,  one  memorable  day  in  Sep- 
tember, 1768,  had  lain  with  their  broadsides  toward  the  town, 
with  springs  on  their  cables  and  shot  in  their  guns,  while  the  two 
regiments  were  conveyed  to  the  shore.  "  With  muskets  charged, 
bayonets  fixed,  drums  beating,  fifes  playing,  and  a  complete  train 
of  artillery,  the  troops  took  possession  of  the  Common,  the  State- 
house,  the  Court-house,  and  Faneuil  Hall.  The  main  guard,  with 
two  pieces  of  artillery,  was  stationed  at  the  State-house  with  their 
guns  pointed  toward  it.  The  town  wore  the  aspect  of  a  garrison. 
Counselors  as  they  entered  the  council-chamber,  citizens  as  they 
passed  and  repassed  on  their  private  errands,  were  challenged  by 
sentinels."* 

Two  years  later  occurred  the  affray  called  the  Boston  Massacre, 
the  trial  of  Captain  Preston,  and  the  election  of  Franklin  as  the 
London  Agent  of  the  province. 

The  minister  who  then  had  charge  of  American  affairs  was  the 

*  "  Memoirs  of  Josiah  Quincy." 


602  LIFE    AND   TIM'ES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l770. 

Earl  of  Hillsborough,  an  Irish  nobleman  of  moderate  ability  and 
vacillating  mind.  To  him  Di-.  Franklin  repaired  to  announce  his 
election  as  agent  for  Massachusetts.  Of  the  interview  which  fol- 
lowed he  drew  up  a  particular  account,  that  his  constituents  in 
Massachusetts  might  know  precisely  how  their  representative  was 
j-egarded  by  a  maternal  government. 

At  the  door  of  the  minister's  residence,  Dr.  Franklin  was  told 
Lord  Hillsborough  was  not  at  home.  He  therefore  left  his  name, 
and  drove  away.  Before  the  coach  had  gone  many  yards,  the  por- 
ter of  Lord  Hillsborough  came  running  after  it,  calling  out  to  the 
driver  to  stop.  "  His  lordship  will  see  you,  sir,"  said  the  porter  on 
reaching  the  door  of  the  vehicle.  On  being  shown  into  the  usual 
apartment,  who  should  the  agent  find  there  but  Sir  Francis  Ber- 
nard, governor  of  Massachusetts,  recently  home  from  his  prov- 
ince, just  baroneted  for  his  superserviceable  toryism  in  America. 
Franklin,  who  had  been  accustomed  to  wait  "  three  or  four  hours" 
in  that  ante-room  before  being  admitted  to  the  presence  of  the 
minister,  was  pleased  on  this  occasion  at  being  summoned  imme- 
diately.    He  relates  the  conversation  : 

"  Being  pleased  (with  the  prompt  admission)  I  could  more  easily 
put  on  the  open,  cheerful  countenance  that  my  friends  advised  me 
to  wear.  His  Lordship  came  towards  me  and  said,  'I  was  dressing 
in  order  to  go  to  court ;  but,  hearing  that  you  were  at  the  door, 
who  are  a  man  of  business,  I  determined  to  see  you  immediately.' 
I  thanked  his  Lordship,  and  said  that  ray  business  at  present  was 
not  much ;  it  was  only  to  pay  my  respects  to  his  Lordship,  and  to 
acquaint  him  with  my  appointment  by  the  House  of  Representa- 
tives of  Massachusetts  Bay  to  be  their  agent  here,  in  which  station 
if  I  could  be  of  any  service — (I  was  going  on  to  say — '  to  the  pub- 
lic, I  should  be  very  happy ;'  but  his  Lordship,  whose  countenance 
changed  at  my  naming  that  province,  cut  me  short  by  saying,  with 
something  between  a  smile  and  a  sneer), 

'''' Hillsborough.  I  must  set  you  right  there,  Mr.  Franklin;  you  are 
not  agent. 

"  Franklin.  Why,  my  Lord  ? 

"  JSillsborough.  You  are  not  appointed. 

"  Franklin.  I  do  not  understand  your  Lordship  ;  I  have  the  ap- 
poinment  in  my  pocket. 

'-'- HilUhorowjh.  You  are  mistaken  ;  I  have  later  and  better  ad- 


AGED    64.]  OFFICIAI.   LABORS    CONTINUED.  603 

vices.     I  have  a  letter  from  Governor  Hutchinson  ;*  he  would  not 
give  his  assent  to  the  bill. 

"  Franklin.  There  was  no  bill,  my  Lord ;  it  was  a  vote  of  the 
House. 

"  Hillsborough.  There  was  a  bill  presented  to  the  governor  for 
the  purpose  of  appointing  you  and  another,  one  Dr.  Lee,  I  think  he 
is  called,  to  which  the  governor  refused  his  assent. 

"  Franklin.  I  cannot  understand  this,  my  Lord  ;  I  think  there 
must  be  some  mistake  in  it.  Is  your  Lordship  quite  sure  that  you 
have  such  a  letter  ? 

'•^  Hillsborough.  I  will  convince  you  of  it  directly.  (Hifigs  the 
bell.)     Mr.  Pownall  will  come  in  and  satisfy  you. 

"  Franklin.  It  is  not  necessary  that  I  should  now  detain  your 
Lordship  from  dressing.  You  are  going  to  court.  I  will  wait  on 
your  Lordship  another  time. 

^^Hillsborough.  No,  stay;  he  will  come  immediately.  {To  the 
servant.)     Tell  Mr.  Pownall  I  want  him. 

{3fr.  Pownall\  comes  i?i.) 

^'Hillsborough.  Have  not  you  at  hand  Governor  Hutchinson's 
letter,  mentioning  his  refusing  his  assent  to  the  bill  for  appointing 
Dr.  Franklin  agent  ? 

"  Pownall.  My  Lord  ! 

"  Hillsborough.  Is  there  not  such  a  letter  ? 

"  Pownall.  No,  my  Lord  ;  there  is  a  letter  relating  to  some  bill 
for  the  payment  of  a  salary  to  Mr.  De  Berdt,  and  I  think  to  some 
other  agent,  to  which  the  governor  had  refused  his  assent. 

"  Hillsborough.  And  is  there  nothing  in  the  letter  to  the  purpose 
I  mention  ? 

"  Poimiall.  No,  my  Lord. 

'•''Franklin.  I  thought  it  could  not  well  be,  my  Lord  ;  as  my  let- 
ters are  by  the  last  ships,  and  they  mention  no  such  thing.  Here 
is  the  authentic  copy  of  the  vote  of  the  House  appointing  me,  in. 
which  there  is  no  mention  of  any  act  intended.  Will  your  Lord- 
ship please  to  look  at  it  ?  (  With  seeming  tinwillingness  he  takes 
it.,  but  does  not  look  into  it.) 

'•'■Hillsborough.    An   information  of  this   kind  is  not   properly 


*  Lieutenant-Governor  of  Massachusetts. 
1  Private  Secretary  to  Hillsborongli. 


504  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l770. 

brought  to  me  as  Secretary  of  State.  The  Board  of  Trade  is  the 
proper  place. 

'-'•Franklin.  I  will  leave  the  paper  then  with  Mr.  Pownall  to 
be 

'•'' Sillsborough.  {Hastily.)  To  what  end  would  you  leave  it  with 
hiin? 

'-''Franklin.  To  be  entered  on  the  minutes  of  that  Board,  as  usual. 

'•'-  HillsboTougli.  {Angrily^  It  shall  not  be  entered  there.  No 
such  paper  shall  be  entered  there,  while  I  have  any  thing  to  do 
with  the  business  of  that  Board..  The  House  of  Representatives 
has  no  right  to  appoint  an  agent.  We  shall  take  no  notice  of  any 
agents  but  such  as  are  appointed  by  acts  of  Assembly  to  which 
the  governor  gives  his  assent.  We  have  had  confusion  enough 
already.  Here  is  one  agent  appointed  by  the  Council,  another  by 
the  House  of  Representatives.  Which  of  these  is  agent  for  the 
province  ?  Who  are  we  to  hear  in  provincial  affairs  ?  An  agent 
appointed  by  act  of  Assembly  we  can  understand.  No  other  will 
be  attended  to  for  the  future,  I  can  assure  you. 

*'  Franklin.  I  cannot  conceive,  my  Lord,  why  the  consent  of  the 
governor  should  be  thought  necessary  to  the  appointment  of  an 
agent  for  the  people.     It  seems  to  me  that 

"  Hillsborough.  (  With  a  mixed  look  of  anger  and  contempt.)  I 
shall  not  enter  into  a  dispute  with  you,  sir,  upon  this  subject. 

"  Franklin.  I  beg  your  Lordship's  pardon  ;  I  do  not  presume  to 
dispute  with  your  Lordship ;  I  would  only  say,  that  it  seems  to  me 
that  every  body  of  men  who  cannot  appear  in  person,  where  busi- 
ness relating  to  them  may  be  transacted,  should  have  a  right  to  ap- 
pear by  an  agent.  The  concurrence  of  the  governor  does  not  seem 
to  me  necessary.  It  is  the  business  of  the  people  that  is  to  be 
done;  he  is  not  one  of  them;  he  is  himself  an  agent. 

"  Hillsborough.  {Hastily.)  Whose  agent  is  he  ? 

"  Frankli7i.  The  king's,  my  Lord. 

"  Hillsborough.  No  such  matter.  He  is  one  of  the  corporation 
by  the  province  charter.  No  agent  can  be  appointed  but  by  an  act, 
nor  any  act  pass  without  his  assent.  Besides,  this  proceeding  is 
directly  contrary  to  express  instructions. 

"  Fra7iklin^  I  did  not  know  there  had  been  such  instructions.  I 
am  not  concerned  in  any  offense  against  them,  and 

"  HiUsborough.  Yes,  your  offering  such  a  paper  to  be  entered  is 


AGED    64.]  OFFICIAX-   LABOES   CONTINUED.  505 

an  offense  against  them.  (^Folding  it  up  again  without  having 
read  a  word  of  it.)  No  such  appointment  shall  be  entered.  "When 
I  came  into  the  administration  of  American  affairs,  I  found  them  in 
great  disorder.  By  my  firmness  they  are  now  something  mended ; 
and,  while  I  have  the  honor  to  hold  the  seals,  I  shall  continue  the 
same  conduct,  the  ^2iV£iQ  firm,ness.  I  think  my  duty  to  the  master  I 
serve,  and  to  the  government  of  this  nation,  requires  it  of  me.  K 
that  conduct  is  not  approved,  they  may  take  my  office  from  me 
when  they  please.  I  shall  make  them  a  bow,  and  thank  them;  I 
shall  resign  with  pleasure.  That  gentleman  knows  it  i^pointing  to 
Mr.  Pownall)^  but,  while  I  continue  in  it,  I  shall  resolutely  perse- 
vere in  the  same  firmness.  {SpoJcen  with  great  warmth^  and  turn- 
ing pale  in  his  discourse^  as  if  he  was  angry  at  something  or  some- 
body besides  the  agent,  and  of  more  consequence  to  himself) 

"  Franklin.  {Beaching  out  his  hand  for  the  paper ^  which  his 
Lordship  returned  to  him.)  I  beg  your  Lordship's  pardon  for  tak- 
ing up  so  much  of  your  time.  It  is,  I  believe,  of  no  great  impor- 
tance whether  the  appointment  is  acknowledged  or  not,  for  I  have 
not  the  least  conception  that  an  agent  can  at  present  be  of  any  use 
to  any  of  the  colonies.  I  shall,  therefore,  give  your  Lordship  no 
further  trouble." 

Dr.  Franklin  then  withdrew,  leaving  the  minister  in  a  rage.  "  I 
have  since  heard,"  wrote  Franklin,  a  few  days  after,  "that  his 
lordship  took  great  offense  at  some  of  my  last  words,  which  he 
calls  extremely  rude  and  abusive.  He  assured  a  friend  of  mine 
that  they  were  equivalent  to  telling  him  to  his  face  that  the  colo- 
nies could  expect  neither  favor  nor  justice  during  his  administra- 
tion. I  find  he  did  not  mistake  me."  His  character,  in  Franklin's 
opinion,  was  composed  of  "  conceit,  wrong-headedness,  obstinacy, 
and  passion."  It  is  instructive  to  note  that,  at  this  very  time,  there 
was  a  calumny  current  in  Massachusetts,  that  Dr.  Franklin  was  a 
hired  tool  of  Lord  Hillsborough. 

Thenceforth,  the  agent  could  do  little  more  for  his  constituents 
than  employ  his  pen  in  the  endeavor  to  open  the  eyes  of  the  Eng- 
lish people  to  the  consequences  of  the  system  in  vogue,  and  keep 
his  own  countrymen  well  advised  of  the  state  of  things  in  Eng- 
land. After  this  interview  with  Lord  Hillsborough,  he  began  to 
foresee  the  coming  disruption.  Such  pride  in  the  people,  such 
ignorance  in  the  ministry,  he  thought,  would  prevent  that  radical 
22 


606  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN  FBANKLIN.  [l17l. 

change  in  measures  which  alone  could  close  the  ever-widening 
breach.  In  one  of  his  official  letters  to  the  Assembly  of  Massachu- 
setts, written  in  May,  1771,  he  predicts  the  severance  of  the  tie 
which  bound  the  colonies  to  Great  Britain,  and  sketches  an  outline 
of  the  process  by  which  it  would  be  (and  was)  effected. 

Yet,  down  to  this  time,  and  after  it,  he  had  not  discovered  the 
cause  of  this  mysterious  and  fatal  persistence  in  error.  Still  he 
praised  the  king.  "I  can  scarcely  conceive,"  he  wrote,  " a  king  of 
better  dispositions,  of  more  exemplary  virtues,  or  more  truly  desir- 
ous of  promoting  the  welfare  of  his  subjects."  He  spoke  fondly, 
too,  of  the  young  princes,  and  of  the  nation  in  general :  "  The 
good  temper  of  our  young  princes,  so  far  as  yet  can  be  discovered, 
promise  us  a  continuance  of  felicity.  The  body  of  this  people,  too, 
is  of  a  noble  and  generous  nature,  loving  and  honoring  the  spirit 
of  liberty,  and  hating  arbitrary  power  of  all  sorts.  We  have  many, 
very  many,  friends  among  them."  The  king,  on  his  part,  was  well 
affected  towards  the  American  philosopher  at  a  late  period  of  the 
controversy.  He  treated  him  with  respect,  and  spoke  well  of  him 
to  others.  Franklin  found  means  (probably  through  Sir  John 
Pringle)  to  forward  to  the  king  such  papers  and  documents  as 
tended  to  show  how  loyal  to  his  person  and  his  throne  were  the 
vast  majority  of  the  American  colonists. 

A  gleam  of  hope  cheered  the  Americans  and  their  friends  in  July, 
1772,  when  the  haughty  and  incapable  Hillsborough  resigned  his 
place  in  the  cabinet.  Franklin  had  the  pleasure  of  knowing  that  he 
was  directly  instrumental  in  causing  the  fall  of  this  minister.  For 
more  than  twenty  years,  as  we  have  before  mentioned,  Dr.  Frank- 
lin had  been  urging  upon  the  British  government  the  policy  of 
founding  colonies  in  the  wilderness,  west  of  the  Alleghany  moun- 
tains. Such  colonies,  he  maintained,  would  open  new  markets  for 
manufactures,  protect  the  fur  trade,  keep  at  a  safe  distance  the 
French  and  Spanish  smugglers,  defend  the  Atlantic  colonies  against 
hostile  Indians,  lessen  the  expense  of  provisioning  the  western  forts, 
and  render  safe  the  few  and  daring  settlers  already  in  that  country. 
A  company  was  formed  at  length  to  establish  a  colony  in  Illinois, 
the  directors  of  which  were  Thomas  Walpole,  Benjamin  Franklin, 
John  Sargent,  and  Samuel  Wharton.  These  gentlemen  having 
petitioned  the  government  for  the  requisite  grant  of  lands,  their 
petition  was  referred  to  the  Lords  of  Trade,  of  whom  the  Earl  of 


AGED    65.]  OFFICIAL  LABOES    CONTINUED.  507 

Hillsborough  was  the  official  chief.  Lord  Hillsborough  chose  to 
draw  up  the  Report  upon  this  petition.  On  grounds  the  most  frivo- 
lous and  illusory,  he  advised  the  rejection  of  the  petition.  As  a 
specimen  of  the  political  economy  which  a  British  Secretary  of  State 
could  adopt  one  hundred  years  ago,  take  this  passage  from  Lord 
Hillsborough's  Report : 

"  If  a  vast  territory  be  granted  to  any  set  of  gentlemen,  who 
really  mean  to  people  it,  and  actually  do  so,  it  must  draw  and  carry 
out  a  great  number  of  people  from  Great  Britain ;  and  I  apprehend 
they  will  soon  become  a  kind  of  separate  and  independent  people, 
and  who  will  set  up  for  themselves ;  that  they  will  soon  have  manu- 
factures of  their  own ;  that  they  will  neither  take  supplies  from  the 
mother  country,  nor  from  the  provinces  at  the  back  of  which  they 
are  settled ;  that,  being  at  a  distance  from  the  seat  of  government, 
courts  and  magistrates,  they  will  be  out  of  the  reach  and  control  of 
law  and  government ;  that  it  will  become  a  receptacle  and  kind 
of  asylum  for  offenders,  who  will  fly  from  justice  to  such  new  coun- 
try or  colony." 

Such  stuff  as  this  was  allowed  to  weigh  against  Franklin's  unan- 
swerable sense  ;  and  the  Report  of  the  Secretary  was  adopted  by 
the  Board  of  Trade.  Franklin  instantly  set  about  writing  a  reply. 
Point  by  point  he  refuted  the  shallow  Hillsborough,  extending  his 
reply  almost  to  the  bulk  of  a  volume.  In  July,  1772,  the  subject 
was  brought  before  a  Privy  Council,  to  whom  Franklin's  reply  was 
read.  The  result  was  that  the  Earl  of  Hillsborough's  Report  was 
set  aside,  and  the  petition  of  Mr.  Walpole  and  his  associates  was 
granted.  The  Earl  of  Hillsborough  immediately  resigned  his  office. 
Not  expecting  such  success,  Franklin  had  had  his  reply  published  ; 
but  on  the  very  morning  when  the  pamphlet  was  first  offered  for 
sale,  he  received  news  of  Hillsborough's  discomfiture,  and  imme- 
diately stopped  the  sale,  when  only  five  copies  had  been  sold. 

This  affair  is  not  to  be  regarded  as  a  pure  triumph  of  reason  and 
sound  policy.  The  colleagues  of  Hillsborough,  it  seems,  were  glad 
enough  of  a  pretext  for  offending  him.  "  I  believe,"  wrote  Frank- 
lin, "  that  when  he  offered  his  resignation,  he  had  such  an  opinion 
of  his  importance,  that  he  did  not  think  it  would  be  accepted;  and 
that  it  would  be  thought  prudent  rather  to  set  our  grant  aside  than 
to  part  with  him.  His  colleagues  in  the  ministry  were  all  glad  to 
gel  rid  of  him,  and  perhaps  for  this  reason  joined  more  readily  in 


608  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.  [l77l. 

giving  him  that  mortification.  Lord  Dartmouth  succeeds  him,  who 
has  much  more  favorable  dispositions  towards  the  colonies."  Nor 
does  this  quite  complete  the  explanation  of  Frankhn's  triumph. 
He  had  induced,  it  appears,  three  members  of  the  privy  council  to 
become  shareholders  in  the  company. 

So  far  as  the  interests  of  the  shareholders  were  concerned,  their 
triumph  was  a  barren  one ;  since  the  formalities  requisite  to  give 
validity  to  the  grant  were  never  permitted  to  be  completed.  This 
may  have  been  Hillsborough's  work  after  all.  When  Franklin 
first  applied  for  a  grant  of  land,  he  had  asked  only  two  and  a  half 
millions  of  acres.  "  Ask  enough  for  a  province,"  said  Hillsborough, 
thinking  it  would  tend  to  defeat  the  application.  Franklin  then 
enlarged  the  company,  and  asked  for  twenty-three  millions  of 
acres  ;  which  may,  at  least,  have  delayed  the  sealing  of  the  patent 
until  circumstances  occurred  which  induced  the  ministry  to  throw 
it  aside. 

Joyful  events  to  the  patriotic  colonists  were  the  fall  of  the  odious 
Hillsborough  and  the  accession  to  power  of  the  amiable  and  popular 
Dartmouth ;  the  one  identified  with  the  late  oppressive  measures, 
and  the  other  an  original  opponent  of  the  Stamp  Act,  and  known  to 
be  a  man  of  liberal  opinions  and  conciliatory  disposition.  Lord  Dart- 
mouth was  a  friend  of  Dr.  Franklin  ;  who  had,  indeed,  suggested 
his  appointment.  He  at  once  rescinded  the  order  of  his  predeces- 
sor, which  excluded  from  official  recognition  in  England  all  the 
colonial  agents  whose  election  a  royal  governor  had  not  sanctioned. 
He  received  the  agents  on  their  old  footing,  and  with  more  respect 
than  any  late  minister  had  shown  them.  He  even  courted  both 
their  company  and  their  advice.  Dr.  Franklin  and  his  colleagues 
attended  his  levees,  and  gave  him  evidence  of  the  profound  and 
umversal  joy  with  which  the  news  of  his  appointment  had  been  re- 
ceived in  America.  The  minister,  in  his  turn,  assured  the  agents 
that  he  valued  the  approval  of  the  American  colonists,  and  begged 
them  to  inform  their  constituents  of  his  perfect  good-will  toward 
them.  He  intimated  that  a  new  system  was  to  be  pursued  toward 
Am.erica,  or  rather,  that  the  old  system  was  to  be  insensibly  re- 
stored. Let  but  the  Americans  keep  quiet,  raise  no  new  issues, 
submit  to  the  laws,  and  suppress  every  thing  of  the  nature  of  popu- 
lar violence,  and  they  would  soon  find  all  their  grievances  redressed. 

The  map  of  the  United  States  is  strown  thick  with  the  names  of 


AGED    65.]  OFFICIAL  LABORS    CONTINUED.  609 

the  ministers  of  George  III.  Even  Hillsborough  has  his  three 
counties  and  twenty  towns.  There  are  Chathams  in  every  State, 
and  Pittsburg  recalls  the  greatness  of  the  minister  who  conquered 
America  in  Germany.  Shelburne,  Camden,  Fox,  Burke,  Grafton, 
Bedford,  Bute,  Newcastle,  all  had  their  names  many  times  appro- 
priated. And  now  a  new  college  in  New  England,  in  the  general 
joy,  took  to  itself  the  name  of  Dartmouth. 

The  change  of  ministers  came  too  late.  Governor  Hutchinson, 
of  Massachusetts,  avaricious  of  money  and  of  the  king's  favor, 
thinking  to  become  a  baronet  and  a  courtier,  as  Governor  Barnard 
had  before  him,  and  not  suspecting  a  change  in  the  ministerial 
policy,  had  embroiled  himself  with  the  legislature  of  Massachusetts, 
and  revived,  by  his  rash  proceedings,  both  the  issues  and  the  pas- 
sions which  Lord  Dartmouth  wished  to  allay.  One  of  the  recent 
devices  of  tyranny  had  been  to  render  the  American  governors  and 
judges  dependent  upon  the  crown  for  their  salaries.  Massachusetts 
resented  the  innovation,  and  petitioned  the  king  against  it.  Hutch- 
inson, in  his  speeches  to  the  House,  justified  the  measure,  and 
went  out  of  his  way  to  declare  again  the  absolute  supremacy  of 
Parliament  over  the  colonies.  The  House  retorted  with  spirit  and 
dignity.  While  expressing  the  most  profound  veneration  for  the 
Parliament  of  Great  Britain,  they  yet  maintained  the  Franklinian 
doctrine  of  their  absolute  independence  of  Parliament  in  all  matters 
relating  to  taxation.  The  enunciation  of  this  offensive  theory  in- 
duced the  zealous  Hutchinson  to  reaffirm  the  most  obnoxious  posi- 
tions of  the  most  extravagant  school  of  tories ;  cherishing  the  de- 
lusion, meanwhile,  that  he  was  doing  the  most  acceptable  service 
to  his  English  masters.  In  truth,  his  proceedings  perplexed  the 
ministry  almost  as  much  as  they  disgusted  the  men  of  Massachu- 
setts. "  The  ministry,"  wrote  Franklin,  "  are  embarrassed  by  his 
proceedings."  If  they  submitted  his  dispatches  to  Parliament, 
they  feared  retaliatory  measures,  which  would  widen  the  breach  ; 
and  this,  in  view  of  some  symptoms  of  a  European  war,  would  be 
"  particularly  inconvenient  at  this  time."  If  they  suppressed  the 
dispatches,  they  would  lay  themselves  open  to  a  charge  of  criminal 
neglect,  which  might  cost  them  their  places. 

Franklin  had  an  interview  with  Lord  Dartmouth  while  the  min- 
istry were  in  this  perplexity.  He  relates  the  conversation  that 
passed  between  them : 


610  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [I'^'^l- 

"  On  my  saying,  that  I  had  no  late  advices  from  Boston,  and  ask- 
ing if  his  Lordship  had  any,  he  said,  '  None  since  the  governor's 
second  speech.  But  what  difficulties  that  gentleman  has  brought 
us  all  into  by  his  imprudence  !  Though  I  suppose  he  meant  well ; 
yet  what  can  now  be  done  ?  It  is  impossible  that  Parliament  can 
suifer  such  a  declaration  of  the  General  Assembly,  asserting  its  in- 
dependency, to  pass  unnoticed.' 

"  *  In  my  opinion,'  said  I,  '  it  would  be  better  and  more  prudent 
to  take  no  notice  of  it.  It  is  words  only.  Acts  of  Parliament  are 
still  submitted  to  there.  No  force  is  used  to  obstruct  their  execu- 
tion. And,  while  that  is  the  case.  Parliament  would  do  well  to 
turn  a  deaf  ear,  and  seem  not  to  know  that  such  declarations  had 
ever  been  made.  Violent  measures  against  the  province  will  not 
change  the  opinion  of  the  people.     Force  could  do  no  good.' 

"  ' I  do  not  know,'  said  he,  'that  force  would  be  thought  of;  but 
perhaps  an  act  may  pass  to  lay  them  under  some  inconveniences 
till  they  rescind  that  declaration.  Can  they  not  withdraw  it  ?  I 
wish  they  could  be  persuaded  to  reconsider  the  matter,  and  do  it 
of  themselves,  voluntarily,  and  thus  leave  things  between  us  on  the 
old  footing,  the  points  undiscussed.  Don't  you  think,'  continued 
his  Lordship,  *  such  a  thing  possible  ?' 

"  *  No,  my  Lord,'  said  I,  '  I  think  it  is  impossible.  If  they  were 
even  to  wish  matters  back  in  the  situation  before  the  governor's 
speech,  and  the  dispute  obliterated,  they  cannot  withdraw  their 
answers  till  he  first  withdraws  his  speech,  which  methinks  would 
be.  an  awkward  operation,  that  perhaps  he  will  hardly  be  directed 
to  perform.  As  to  an  act  of  Parliament  laying  that  country  under 
inconveniences,  it  is  likely  that  it  will  only  put  them  as  heretofore 
on  some  method  of  incommoding  this  country  till  the  act  is  re- 
pealed ;  and  so  we  shall  go  on  injuring  and  provoking  each  other, 
instead  of  cultivating  that  good  will  and  harmony  so  necessary  to 
the  general  welfare.' 

"  He  said  that  might  be,  and  he  was  sensible  our  divisions  must 
weaken  the  whole  ;  '  for  we  are  yet  one  empire^  said  he,  *  whatever 
maybe  the  sentiments  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly;'  but  he  did 
not  see  how  that  could  be  avoided.  He  wondered,  as  the  dispute 
was  now  of  public  notoriety.  Parliament  had  not  already  called  for 
the  dispatches ;  and  he  thought  he  could  not  omit  much  longer  the 
communicating  them,  however  unwilling  he  was  to  do  it,  from  his 


AGED    65.]  OFFICIAL  LABORS   CONnNUED.  511 

apprehension  of  the  consequences.  '  But  what,'  his  Lordship  was 
pleased  to  say,  '  if  you  were  in  my  place,  would  or  could  you  do  ? 
Would  you  hazard  the  being  called  to  account  in  some  future 
session  of  Parliament,  for  keeping  back  the  communication  of  dis- 
patches of  such  importance?' 

"  I  said,  '  his  Lordship  could  best  judge  what,  in  his  situation, 
was  fittest  for  him  to  do  ;  I  could  only  give  my  poor  opinion  with 
regard  to  Parliament,  that,  supposing  the  dispatches  laid  before 
them,  they  would  act  most  prudently  in  ordering  them  to  lie  on  the 
table,  and  take  no  further  notice  of  them.  For,  were  I  as  much  an 
Englishman  as  I  am  an  American,  and  ever  so  desirous  of  establish- 
ing the  authority  of  Parliament,  I  protest  to  your  Lordship  I  can- 
not conceive  of  a  single  step  the  Parliament  can  take  to  increase  it, 
that  will  not  tend  to  diminish  it ;  and  after  abundance  of  mischief 
they  must  finally  lose  it.  The  loss  in  itself  perhaps  would  not  be 
of  much  consequence,  because  it  is  an  authority  they  can  never  well 
exercise  for  want  of  due  information  and  knowledge,  and  therefore 
it  is  not  worth  hazarding  the  mischief  to  preserve  it.' 

"  Then  adding  my  wishes  that  I  could  be  of  any  service  in  healing 
our  differences,  his  Lordship  said,  '  I  do  not  see  any  thing  of  more 
service  than  prevailing  on  the  General  Assembly,  if  you  can  do  it, 
to  witlidraw  their  answers  to  the  governor's  speech.' 

"  'Thei-e  is  not,'  says  I,  'the  least  probability  they  will  ever  do 
that;  for  the  country  is  all  of  one  mind  upon  the  subject.  Perhaps 
the  governor  may  have  represented  to  your  Lordship  that  these 
are  the  opinions  of  a  party  only,  and  that  great  numbers  are  of 
different  sentiments,  which  may  in  time  prevail.  But  if  he  does 
not  deceive  himself,  he  deceives  your  Lordship ;  for  in  both  Houses, 
notwithstanding  the  influence  appertaining  to  his  office,  there  was 
not,  in  sending  up  those  answers,  a  single  dissenting  voice.' 

"  '  I  do  not  recollect,'  says  his  Lordship,  '  that  the  governor  has 
written  any  thing  of  that  kind.  I  am  told,  however,  by  gentlemen 
from  that  country  who  pretend  to  know  it,  that  there  are  many  of 
the  governor's  opinion,  but  they  dare  not  show  their  sentiments.' 

*' '  I  never  heard,'  said  I,  '  that  any  one  has  suffered  violence  for 
siding  with  the  governor.' 

"  '  Not  violence,  perhaps,'  said  his  Lordship, '  but  they  are  reviled 
and  held  in  contempt,  and  people  do  not  care  to  incur  the  disesteem 
and  displeasure  of  their  neighbors.' 


512  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [17*71. 

"  As  I  knew  Governor  Bernard  had  been  in  with  his  Lordship 
just  before  me,  I  thought  he  was  probably  one  of  these  gentleman 
informants,  and  therefore  said,  'People  who  are  engaged  in  any 
party  or  have  advised  any  measures,  are  apt  to  magnify  the  num- 
bers of  those  they  w^ould  have  understood  as  approving  their 
measures.' 

"  His  Lordship  said  that  was  natural  to  suppose  might  be  the 
present  case;  for  whoever  observed  the  conduct  of  parties  here 
must  have  seen  it  a  constant  practice ;  and  he  agreed  with  me  that 
though  a  nemine  contradicente  did  not  prove  the  absolute  agree- 
ment of  every  man  in  the  opinion  voted,  it  at  least  demonstrated 
the  great  prevalence  of  that  opinion.     Thus  ended  our  conference." 

This  interview  occurred  in  May,  1773.  The  rest  of  the  story  of 
Hutchinson,  Franklin,  and  the  Assembly  of  Massachusetts,  shall  be 
related  in  due  time.  The  danger  of  European  war  having  passed 
away,  the  government  took  a  different  view  of  the  proceedings  of 
Governor  Hutchinson,  transferring  their  wrath  to  another  person, 
for  there  was  that  in  the  speeches  of  this  Governor  which  was 
most  pleasing  to  the  narrow  and  morbid  mind  of  the  king.  It  was 
oiot  Bute  that  did  the  mischief;  there  was  "wo  power  behind  the 
throne  greater  than  the  throne  itself;"  the  king,  the  king  always, 
the  king  only,  was  the  secret  influence  that  warped  and  vitiated 
the  Government  of  England. 

Franklin's  political  writings,  in  these  later  years  of  the  strife, 
were  numerous,  but  they  need  slight  notice  from  us  here.  Com- 
positions better  adapted  to  the  purpose  for  which  they  were  writ- 
ten, it  would  be  difficult  to  name ;  and  perhaps,  if  convincing  the 
reading  people  of  England  had  been  sufficient  to  change  the  policy 
of  their  representatives,  they  might,  in  time,  have  effected  their 
purpose.  Some  of  these  pieces,  more  elaborate  or  more  striking 
than  the  rest,  enjoy  still  a  certain  celebrity.  Dr.  Franklin  was  well 
aware,  as  his  writings  show,  that  a  human  motive  is  generally  a 
composite  force ;  that  man  can  seldom  afford,  and  is  seldom  re- 
quired, to  be  quite  disinterested ;  and  yet,  that  there  is  in  all  vir- 
tuous persons  a  love  of  fair  play  for  its  own  sake.  Consequently, 
we  find  him  invariably  appealing,  in  the  same  article,  both  to  the 
generosity  and  to  the  selfishness  of  his  readers;  to  their  fears 
and  to  their  sympathies ;  to  their  love  of  gain  and  their  love  of 
country ;  to  their  judgrment  and  to  their  enthusiasm.    It  Is  interest- 


AGED  (^5.~\  OFFICIAL   LABORS    CONTINTJED.  613 

ing  to  look  over  these  pieces,  and  see  how  he  contrives,  in  a  few 
paragraphs,  to  touch  all  the  chords  whose  united  action  constitutes 
what  may  be  styled  an  average  motive.  Thus,  for  example,  in  his 
preface  to  a  pamphlet,  containing  the  history  of  the  "Proceedings 
in  Boston,"  he  begins  by  descanting  upon  the  affection  formerly 
felt  by  the  colonists  for  the  mother  country  ;  but  he  concludes  by 
saying,  that  a  million  Americans  drink  tea  twice  a  day,  at  an  expense 
of  half  a  guinea  each  per  annum,  and  that  all  this  great  trade  has 
been  lost  to  England  since  the  imposition  of  the  odious  tea  duty, 
to  the  imminent  ruin  of  the  East  India  Company,  and  to  the  en- 
riching of  thousands  of  foreign  smugglers. 

Two  of  Dr.  Franklin's  newspaper  effusions,  at  this  time,  were 
great  and  famous  hits.  One  was  entitled,  "  Rules  for  Reducing  a 
Great  Empire  to  a  Small  one.  Presented  to  a  late  Minister  (Lord 
Hillsborough)  when  he  entered  upon  his  administration."  These 
Rules,  which  were  twenty  in  number,  were  nothing  more  than  a 
satirical  history  of  the  entire  controversy  between  England  and  her 
colonies ;  the  satirist  gravely  recommending  the  minister  to  do  pre- 
cisely what  the  government  had  done.  "  An  ancient  sage,"  the 
burlesque  begins,  "  valued  himself  upon  this,  that,  though  he  could 
not  fiddle,  he  knew  how  to  make  a  great  city  of  a  little  one.  The 
science  that  I,  a  modern  simpleton,  am.  about  to  communicate,  is 
the  very  reverse."  The  Rules,  which  follow,  are  illustrated  with  a 
great  deal  of  humorous  detail,  but  their  substance  may  be  briefly 
given : 

1.  "  A  great  empire,  like  a  great  cake,  is  most  easily  diminished 
at  the  edges.  Turn  your  attention,  therefore,  first  to  your  remotest 
provinces ;  that,  as  you  get  rid  of  them,  the  next  may  follow  in 
order."  2.  "  Take  special  care  the  provinces  are  never  incorpora- 
ted vnth  the  mother  country  /  that  they  do  not  enjoy  the  same  com- 
mon rights,  the  same  privileges  in  commerce ;  and  that  they  are 
governed  by  severer  laws,  all  of  your  enacting,  without  allowing 
them  any  share  in  the  choice  of  the  legislators.  By  carefully  mak- 
ing and  preserving  such  distinctions,  you  will  (to  keep  to  my  simile 
of  the  cake)  act  like  a  wise  gingerbread-baker,  who,  to  facilitate  a 
division,  cuts  his  dough  half  through  in  those  places  where,  when 
baked,  he  would  have  it  broken  to  pieces."  3.  "If  they  happen  to 
be  zealous  whigs,  friends  of  liberty,  nurtured  in  revolution  prin- 
ciples, remember  all  that  to  their  prejudice,  and  contrive  to  punish 
22* 


514  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [lllS. 

it ;  for  sucli  principles,  after  a  revolution  is  thoroughly  established, 
are  of  no  more  use ;  they  are  even  odious  and  abominable."  4. 
*'  Quarter  troops  among  them,  who,  by  their  insolence,  may  provoke 
the  rising  of  mobs,  and  by  their  bullets  and  bayonets  suppress  them. 
By  this  means,  like  the  husband  who  uses  his  wife  ill  from  suspi- 
cion, you  may  in  time  convert  your  suspicions  into  realities."  5. 
''  Be  careful  whom  you  recommend  to  colonial  offices.  If  you  can  find 
prodigals  who  have  ruined  their  fortunes,  broken  gamesters  or 
stock-jobbers,  these  may  do  well  as  governors ;  for  they  will,  prob- 
ably, be  rapacious,  and  provoke  the  people  by  their  extortions. 
Wrangling  proctors  and  pettifogging  lawyers,  too,  are  not  amiss ; 
for  they  will  be  forever  disputing  and  quarreling  with  their  little 
parliaments."  6.  "  Whenever  the  injured  come  to  the  capital  with 
complaints  of  mal-administration,  oppression,  or  injustice,  />w7^^sA 
such  suitors  with  long  delay,  enormous  expense,  and  a  final  judg- 
ment in  favor  of  the  oppressor."  7.  "  When  such  governors  have 
crammed  their  coffers,  and  made  themselves  so  odious  to  the  people 
that  they  can  no  longer  remain  among  them  with  safety  to  their 
persons,  recall  and  reward  them  with  pensions.  You  may  make 
them  baronets,  too,  if  that  respectable  order  should  not  think  fit  to 
resent  it."  8.  "  When  you  are  engaged  in  war,  if  your  colonies 
should  vie  in  liberal  aids  of  men  and  money  against  the  common 
enemy,  upon  your  simple  requisition,  and  give  far  beyond  their 
abihties ;  reflect  that  a  penny  taken  from  them  by  your  power  is 
more  honorable  to  you  than  a  pound  presented  by  their  benevo- 
lence ;  despise^  there/ore,  their  'voluntary  grants^  and  resolve  to 
harass  them  with  novel  taxes.''''  9.  "  In  laying  these  taxes,  never 
regard  the  heavy  burdens  those  remote  people  already  undergo  in 
defending  their  own  frontiers,  supporting  their  own  provincial  gov- 
ernment, making  new  roads,  building  bridges,  churches,  and  other 
public  edifices ;  which,  in  old  countries,  have  been  done  to  your  hands 
by  your  ancestors."  10.  "  Perplex  their  commerce  with  infinite 
regulations,  impossible  to  be  remembered  and  observed;  ordain 
seizures  of  their  property  for  every  failure  ;  take  away  the  trial  of 
such  property  by  jury,  and  give  it  to  arbitrary  judges  of  your 
own  appointing,  and  of  the  lowest  characters  in  the  country, 
whose  salaries  and  emoluments  are  to  arise  out  of  the  duties 
or  condemnations,  and  whose  appointments  are  during  pleasure. 
Then  let  there  be  a  formal  declaration  of  both  Houses,  that  op- 


AGED    G7.]  OFFICIAL   LABORS    CONTINXrED.  615 

position  to  your  edicts  is  treason,  and  that  persons  suspected  of 
treason  in  the  provinces  may,  according  to  some  obsolete  law, 
be  seized,  and  sent  to  the  metropolis  of  the  empire  for  trial." 
11.  "To  make  your  taxes  more  odious,  and  more  Hkely  to  procure 
resistance,  send  from  the  capital  a  hoard  of  officers  to  superintend 
the  collection,  composed  of  the  most  indiscreet,  ill-bred,  and  insolent 
you  can  find.  Let  these  have  large  salaries  out  of  the  extorted 
revenue,  and  live  in  open,  grating  luxury  upon  the  sweat  and  blood 
of  the  industrious;  whom  they  are  to  worry  continually  with 
groundless  and  expensive  prosecutions."  12.  "  Another  way  to  make 
your  tax  odious,  is  to  misapply  the  produce  of  it.  If  it  was  ori- 
ginally appropriate  for  the  defense  of  the  provinces,  and  the  better 
support  of  government,  and  the  administration  of  justice,  where 
it  may  be  necessary ;  then  apply  none  of  it  to  that  defense ;  but  be- 
stow it  where  it  is  not  necessary,  in  augmenting  salaries  or  pensions 
to  every  governor  who  has  distinguished  himself  by  his  enmity  to 
the  people,  and  by  calumniating  them  to  their  sovereign."  13.  "If 
the  people  of  any  province  have  been  accustomed  to  support  their 
0W71  governors  and  judges  to  satisfaction,  you  are  to  apprehend 
that  such  governors  and  judges  may  be  thereby  influenced  to  treat 
the  people  kindly,  nnd  to  do  them  justice.  This  is  another  reason 
for  applying  part  of  that  revenue  in  larger  salaries  to  such  govern- 
ors and  judges,  given,  as  their  commissions  are,  during  your  pleas- 
ure only ;  forbidding  them  to  take  any  salaries  from  their  provinces." 
14.  "  If  the  Parliaments  of  your  provinces  should  dare  to  claim  rights, 
or  complain  of  your  administration,  order  them  to  be  harassed  with 
repeated  dissolutions.  If  the  same  men  are  continually  returned  by 
new  elections,  adjourn  their  meetings  to  some  country  village, 
where  they  cannot  be  accommodated,  and  there  keep  them  during 
pleasure."  15.  "Scour  with  armed  boats  every  bay,  harbor,  river, 
creek,  cove,  or  nook  throughout  the  coast  of  your  colonies  ;  stop 
and  detain  every  coaster,  every  wood-boat,  every  fisherman ;  tum- 
ble their  cargoes  and  even  their  ballast  inside  out  and  upside  down  ; 
and,  if  a  pennyworth  of  pins  is  found  unentered,  let  the  whole  be 
seized  and  confiscated.  Then  let  these  boats'  crews  land  upon  every 
farm  in  their  way,  rob  their  orchards,  steal  their  pigs  and  poultry, 
and  insult  the  inhabitants.  If  the  injured  and  exasperated  farmers, 
unable  to  procure  other  justice,  should  attack  the  aggressors,  drub 
them,  and  burn  their  boats  ;  you  are  to  call  this  high  treason  and 


616  LLPE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [17V3. 

rehellion,  order  fleets  and  armies  into  their  country,  and  threaten  to 
carry  all  the  ofienders  three  thousand  miles  to  be  hanged,  drawn, 
and  quartered.  O  !  this  will  Avork  admirably  !"  16.  "Take  all  your 
informations  of  the  state  of  the  colonies  from  your  governors  and 
officers  in  enmity  with  them.  Encourage  and  reward  these  leasing- 
makers ;  secrete  their  lying  accusations,  lest  they  should  be  con- 
futed ;  but  act  upon  them  as  the  clearest  evidence ;  and  believe 
nothing  you  hear  from  the  friends  of  the  people.  Suppose  all  their 
complaints  to  be  invented  and  promoted  by  a  few  factious  dema- 
gogues, whom  if  you  could  catch  and  hang,  all  would  be  quiet. 
Catch  and  hang  a  few  of  them  accordingly  ;  and  the  blood  of  the 
martyrs  shall  work  miracles  in  favor  of  your  purpose."  1 7.  "  If  you 
^QQ  rival  7iatio7is  YQ^oiGmg  at  the  prospect  of  your  disunion  with 
your  provinces,  and  endeavoring  to  promote  it ;  if  they  translate, 
publish,  and  applaud  all  the  complaints  of  your  discontented  colo- 
nists, at  the  same  time  privately  stimulating  you  to  severer  measures, 
let  not  that  offend  you.  Why  should  it,  since  you  all  mean  the 
same  thing  ?"  18.  "  If  any  colony  should  at  their  own  charge  erect  a 
fortress  (Boston  Castle),  to  secure  their  ^or^  against  the  fleets  of  a 
foreign  enemy,  get  your  governor  to  betray  that  fortress  into  your 
hands.  Never  think  of  paying  what  it  cost  the  country,  for  that 
would  look,  at  least,  like  some  regard  for  justice ;  but  turn  it  into  a 
citadel  to  awe  the  inhabitants  and  curb  their  commerce."  19.  "  Send 
armies  into  their  country  under  pretence  of  protecting  the  inhabi- 
tants ;  but,  instead  of  garrisoning  the  forts  on  their  frontiers  with 
those  troops  to  prevent  incursions,  demolish  those  forts,  and  order 
the  troops  into  the  heart  of  the  country,  that  the  savages  may  be 
encouraged  to  attack  the  frontiers,  and  that  the  troops  may  be  pro- 
tected by  the  inhabitants."  20.  "  Lastly,  invest  the  general  of  your 
army  in  the  provinces  with  great  and  unconstitutional  powers,  and 
free  him  from  the  control  of  even  your  own  civil  governors.  Let 
him  have  troops  enough  under  his  command,  with  all  the  fortresses 
in  his  possession ;  and  who  knows  but  (like  some  provincial  gener- 
als in  the  Roman  empire,  and  encouraged  by  the  universal  discon- 
tent you  have  produced)  he  may  take  it  into  bis  head  to  set  up  for 
himself?  If  he  should,  and  you  have  carefully  practiced  the  ^qw 
excellent  rules  of  mine,  take  my  word  for  it  all  the  provinces  will 
immediately  join  him  ;  and  you  will  that  day  (if  you  have  not  done 
it  sooner)  get  rid  of  the  trouble  of  governing  tliem,  and  all  the 


AGED    67.]  OFFICIAL   LABORS    CONTINUED.  517 

plagues  attending  their  commerce  and  connexion,  from  thenceforth 
and  for  ever." 

This  ingenious  production  had  a  great  run  at  the  time  of  its  pub- 
lication. It  was  copied  into  the  Gentleman's  Magazirie^  as  well  as 
into  many  newspapers  on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic ;  and  yet  such 
was  the  demand  for  copies,  that  the  editor  who  first  gave  it  to  the 
world,  reprinted  it  in  his  own  paper  a  few  weeks  after  its  original 
appearance.  As  late  as  1797,  twenty-six  years  after  its  first  publi- 
cation, it  was  again  reprinted  in  London  as  a  pamphlet,  in  aid  of 
some  political  purpose  of  the  day.  Franklin  himself  thought  well 
of  the  piece,  so  he  told  his  son,  for  the  quantity  and  variety  of 
matter  it  contained,  and  a  kind  of  spirited  ending  of  each  para- 
graph. 

The  other  piece  to  which  we  have  referred,  was  one  of  slighter 
texture  and  smaller  caliber  than  this ;  but,  for  a  week,  it  was  even 
more  popular.  It  was  a  squib,  entitled,  **  An  Edict  of  the  King  of 
Prussia."  This  edict,  after  the  usual  flourish  of  trumpets, "  Frederick, 
by  the  Grace  of  God,"  etc.,  proceeded  to  set  forth  that : 

"  Whereas,  it  is  well  known  to  all  the  world,  that  the  first  Ger- 
man settlements  made  in  the  Island  of  Britain  were  by  colonies  of 
people  subject  to  our  renowned  ducal  ancestors,  and  drawn  from  their 
dominions,  under  the  conduct  of  Hengist,  Horsa,  Hella,  Uffa,  Cerdi- 
cus,  Ida,  and  others ;  and  that  the  said  colonies  have  flourished 
under  the  protection  of  our  august  house  for  ages  past ;  have  never 
been  emancipated  therefrom ;  and  yet  have  hitherto  yielded  little 
profit  to  the  same ;  and  whereas  we  ourself  have  in  the  last  war 
fought  for  and  defended  the  said  colonies  against  the  power  of 
France,  and  thereby  enabled  them  to  make  conquests  from  the  said 
power  in  America,  for  which  we  have  not  yet  received  adequate 
compensation ;  and  whereas  it  is  just  and  expedient  that  a  revenue 
should  be  raised  from  the  said  colonies  in  Britain,  toward  our  indem- 
nification ;  and  that  those  who  are  descendants  of  our  ancient  sub- 
jects, and  thence  still  owe  us  due  obedience,  should  contribute  to  the 
replenishing  of  our  royal  coflfers  (as  they  must  have  done,  had  their 
ancestors  remained  in  the  territories  now  to  us  appertaining) ;  we 
do  therefore  hereby  ordain  and  command," — just  what  the  govern- 
ment of  Great  Britain  had  ordained  and  commanded  with  regard 
to  her  American  colonies  ;  a  statement  of  which,  in  proper  form,  fol- 
lows this  swelling  prologue.     Among  other  things  ordained  and 


518  LIFE  AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANBXIN.  [l773. 

commanded  in  this  Edict,  was  this :  "  That  all  the  thieves^  highway 
and  street  robbers,  housebreakers,  forgerers,  murderers,  s — d — tes, 
and  villains  of  every  denomination,  who  have  forfeited  their  lives 
to  the  law  in  Prussia,  but  whom  we  in  our  great  clemency  do  not 
think  fit  here  to  hang,  shall  be  emptied  out  of  our  gaols  into  the 
said  Island  of  Great  Britain,  for  the  better  peopling  of  that 
country." 

This  capital  burlesque  was  the  nine-days'  talk  of  the  kingdom. 
The  edition  of  the  newspaper  in  which  it  appeared  was  so  quickly 
bought  up,  that  the  author  could  not  get  a  copy  to  send  to  his  son 
until  it  was  reprinted  in  other  papers.  Some  people,  Franklin  re- 
lates, were  really  taken  in  by  the  joke.  He  wrote  to  his  son :  "  I 
was  down  at  Lord  Le  Despencer's,  when  the  post  brought  that 
day's  papers.  Paul  Whitehead  was  there,  too,  who  runs  early 
through  all  the  papers,  and  tells  the  company  what  he  finds  remark- 
able. He  had  them  in  another  room,  and  we  were  chatting  in  the 
breakfast  parlor,  when  he  came  running  into  us,  out  of  breath, 
with  the  paper  in  his  hand.  '  Here  !'  says  he,  '  here's  news  for  ye ! 
Here's  the  King  of  Prussia  claiming  a  right  to  this  kingdom !'  All 
stared,  and  I  as  much  as  anybody ;  and  he  went  on  to  read  it. 
When  he  had  read  two  or  three  paragraphs  a  gentleman  present 
said,  '  Damn  his  impudence  ;  I  dare  say  we  shall  hear  by  next  post 
that  he  is  upon  his  march  with  one  hundred  thousand  men  to  back 
this.'  Whitehead,  who  is  very  shrewd,  soon  after  began  to  smoke 
it,  and  looking  in  my  face,  said,  '  I'll  be  hanged  if  this  is  not  some 
of  your  American  jokes  upon  us.'  The  reading  went  on,  and  ended 
with  abundance  of  laughing,  and  a  general  verdict  that  it  was  a  fair 
hit ;  and  the  piece  was  cut  out  of  the  paper  and  preserved  in  my 
Lord's  collection." 

There  were  those  in  England  who  did  not  relish  such  joking. 
That  notorious  creature  of  the  King,  Lord  Mansfield,  a  Scottish 
Jacobite  by  birth  and  a  tory  by  nature,  flatterer  of  the  king,  and 
flattered  by  him,  the  Eldon  of  his  time,  was  heard  by  one  of  Dr. 
Franklin's  friends  to  say,  that  this  Edict  was  an  able  and  an  artful 
piece,  which  "  would  do  mischief  by  giving  in  England  a  bad  im- 
pression of  the  measures  of  government,  and,  in  the  colonies,  by 
encouraging  their  contumacy."  All  the  court  party  who  read  the 
piece  were,  doubtless,  of  the  same  opinion.  Nor  could  the  author- 
ship of  compositions  which  gave  one  party  so  much  delight,  and 


AGED   67.]  PEIVATE   LIFE   AND    STUDIES.  519 

another  party  so  much  disgust,  long  remain  concealed  from  those 
who  would  make  it  their  business  to  discover  it.  We  cannot  doubt, 
that  the  subsequent  course  of  the  government  toward  Dr.  Franklin 
was  influenced,  in  some  degree,  by  the  natural  abhorrence  which  tory 
courtiers  entertained  for  a  person  capable  of  writing  such  sprightly 
and  damaging  satire. 

Solemn  and  ponderous  replies  to  these  effusions  appeared,  one  of 
which  was  writtten  by  Governor  Bernard ;  but  they  seem  to  have 
attracted  little  notice.  This  battle,  indeed,  was  not  to  be  fought 
out  on  paper.  If  it  had  been,  Franklin  and  Franklin's  cause  would 
have  won  the  day  before  the  year  1783. 


CHAPTER  VI. 

PRIVATE   LIFE    AND   STUDIES. 

"Fkanklik,  Benjamin,  Esq.,  agent  for  Philadelphia,  Craven 
Street,  Strand." 

Such  is  the  account  of  our  philosopher  given  in  the  thin  London 
Directory  for  1770;  an  entry  which  shows  that  the  compiler  con- 
sidered him  a  person  of  some  consequence,  but  had  only  a  vague 
notion  from  what  that  consequence  was  derived.  In  Craven  Street, 
at  the  house  of  Mrs.  Stevenson,  he  continued  to  live  during  the 
whole  period  of  his  residence  in  London,  and  enjoyed  there  a  tran- 
quil satisfaction  which  could  only  have  been  surpassed  at  his  own 
Philadelphia  home.  "  It  is  to  all  our  honors,"  he  once  wrote  to  the 
daughter  of  Mrs.  Stevenson,  "  that  in  all  that  time  we  never  had 
among  us  the  smallest  misunderstanding ;  our  friendship  has  been 
all  clear  sunshine,  without  the  least  cloud  in  its  hemisphere." 

With  him  lived  William  Temple  Franklin,  his  son's  son,  a  prom- 
ising boy,  who,  it  appears,  had  never  seen  his  father  since  he  had 
been  old  enough  to  know  the  meaning  of  the  word.  He  grew  up 
under  the  eye  and  training  of  his  grandfather,  to  whom  he  proved  a 
help  and  solace  when  he  stood  in  need  of  both.  At  this  time,  a 
lively,  intelligent  lad,  he  cheered  the  leisure  hours  of  Dr.  Franklin, 
and  imbibed  his   political  opinions ;   while  the  governor  of  New 


520  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1773. 

Jersey  was  becoming  more  and  more  a  government  man.  Dr. 
Franklin  had  communicated  his  opinions  upon  the  points  in  dispute 
between  the  old  country  and  the  new  with  freedom  and  fullness  to 
his  son,  and  there  appeared  for  several  years  no  divergence  between 
them.  But  as  the  controversy  grew  sharp  and  bitter,  the  royal 
governor  sided  with  his  masters.  Franklin  not  yet  believing  that 
the  disruption  would  occur  in  their  time,  left  his  son  free  to  follow 
his  own  opinions,  expressly  refusing  to  make  any  attempt  to  pros- 
elyte him.  "  I  only  wish  you,"  Ixe  wrote  in  1773,  "  to  act  uprightly 
and  steadily,  avoiding  that  duplicity  which,  in  Hutchinson,  adds 
contempt  to  indignation.  If  you  can  promote  the  prosperity  of 
your  people,  and  leave  them  happier  than  you  found  them,  whatever 
your  political  principles  are,  your  memory  will  be  honored." 

Besides  little  Temple,  there  lived  with  him  Sally  Franklin,  the 
daughter  of  one  of  his  English  relatives,  whom  he  adopted  and 
educated,  and  who  was  happily  married,  in  1773,  to  a  thriving 
English  farmer.  About  the  same  time  his  domestic  circle  was  further 
enlarged  by  the  marriage  of  Miss  Stevenson  to  Dr.  Hewson,  a 
London  physician  of  promise.  The  young  couple  and  their  children 
were  exceedingly  beloved  by  him. 

His  good  wife,  always  longing  for  her  husband's  return,  kept  him 
well  advised  respecting  the  occurrences  at  his  other  home  over  the 
sea ;  describing  with  curious  minuteness  the  progress  of  the  new 
house  and  the  furniture  of  each  of  the  apartments.  Information 
still  more  interesting  she  had  to  communicate  a  year  after  his 
arrival  in  London.  A  young  merchant  of  Philadelphia,  of  English 
birth,  Mr.  Richard  Bache,  had  proposed  for  the  hand  of  his  daughter. 
The  young  lady  was  nothing  loath  ;  the  mother  did  not  disapprove ; 
would  the  father  object  ?  He  replied  (it  was  before  his  American 
appointments  had  made  up  for  the  discontinuance  of  his  thousand 
a  year  from  Mr.  Hall) :  "  I  know  very  little  of  the  gentleman  or  his 
character,  nor  can  I  at  this  distance.  I  hope  his  expectations  are 
not  great  of  any  fortune  to  be  had  with  our  daughter  before  our 
death.  I  can  only  say,  that  if  he  proves  a  good  husband  to  her, 
and  a  good  son  to  me,  he  shall  find  me  as  good  a  father  as  I  can  be  ; 
but  at  present  I  suppose  you  would  agree  with  me,  that  we  cannot 
do  more  than  fit  her  out  handsomely  in  clothes  and  furniture,  not 
exceeding  in  the  whole  five  hundred  pounds  of  value.  For  the  rest, 
they  must  depend,  as  you  and  I  did,  on  their  own  industry  and 


AGED   67.]  PRIVATE   LIFE   AND    STUDIES.  621 

care,  as  what  remains  in  our  hands  will  be  barely  sufficient  for  our 
support,  and  not  enough  for  them  when  it  comes  to  be  divided  at 
our  decease." 

Soon  after  came  intelligence  that  Mr.  Bache  had  been  unfor- 
tunate in  business.  This  misfortune,  wrote  Dr.  Franklin,  "  though 
it  may  not  lessen  his  character  as  an  honest  or  a  prudent  man,  will 
probably  induce  him  to  forbear  entering  hastily  into  a  state,  that 
must  require  a  great  addition  to  his  expense,  when  he  will  be 
less  able  to  supply  it.  If  you  think  that,  in  the  mean  time,  it 
will  be  some  amusement  to  Sally  to  visit  her  friends  here,  and 
return  with  me,  I  should  have  no  objection  to  her  coming  over 
with  Captain  Falconer,  provided  Mrs.  Falconer  comes  at  the  same 
time,  as  is  talked  of.  I  think,  too,  it  might  be  some  improvement 
to  her." 

But  she  came  not.  October  29th,  1767,  Mr.  Richard  Bache  and 
Miss  Sarah  Franklin  were  married  at  Philadelphia.  The  lady  was 
then  twenty-three  years  of  age,  and,  as  her  portrait  testifies,  a 
woman  superbly  beautiful. 

Dr.  Franklin  did  not  see  his  son-in-law  until  1771,  when  he  came 
to  England  in  the^hope  of  procuring  through  Franklin's  influence, 
a  government  appointment.  Dr.  Franklin  could  not  then  ask  a 
favor  of  the  ministry,  and  advised  Mr.  Bache  to  embark  his  capital 
in  a  stock  of  merchandise,  return  to  Philadelphia,  and  open  a  store. 
This  advice  was  taken,  and  Franklin  gave  his  son-in-law  two  hun- 
dred pounds  with  which  to  augment  his  supply.  "  I  am  of  opinion," 
wrote  Franklin  to  his  daughter  on  this  occasion,  "that  almost  any 
profession  a  man  has  been  educated  in  is  preferable  to  an  office  held 
at  pleasure,  as  rendering  him  more  independent,  more  a  free  man, 
and  less  subject  to  the  caprices  of  superiors ;  and  I  think  that,  in 
keeping  a  store,  if  it  be  where  you  dwell,  you  can  be  serviceable  to 
him,  as  your  mother  was  to  me ;  for  you  are  not  deficient  in  capa- 
city, and  I  hope  you  are  not  too  proud.  You  might  easily  learn 
accounts,  and  you  can  copy  letters,  or  write  them -very  well  upon 
occasion.  By  industry  and  frugality  you  may  get  forward  in  the 
world,  being  both  of  you  yet  young;  and  then  what  we  may  leave 
you  at  our  death,  will  be  a  pretty  addition,  though  of  itself  far  from 
sufficient  to  maintain  and  bring  up  a  family." 

The  young  couple  lived  with  Mrs.  Franklin  during  the  first  eight 
years  of  their  union.     Their  son,  Benjamin  Franklin  Bache,  after- 


522  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [Ill3. 

wards  so  noted  in  the  political  strifes  of  Jefferson's  day,  and  the 
father  of  sons  still  distinguished,  was  the  solace  of  Mrs.  Frank- 
lin's life  in  her  husband's  absence.  She  filled  her  letters  with  his 
prattle.  Her  husband  commended  her  for  not  spoiling  the  child, 
as  fond  grandmothers  sometimes  do.  "I  see,"  he  once  wrote 
to  her,  "  that  your  happiness  is  wrapped  up  in  his ;  since  your 
whole  long  letter  is  made  up  of  the  history  of  his  pretty  actions.  It 
was  very  prudently  done  of  you  not  to  interfere  when  his  mother 
thought  fit  to  correct  him  ;  which  pleased  me  the  more,  as  I  feared, 
from  your  fondness  of  him,  that  he  would  be  too  much  humored,  and 
perhaps  spoiled.  There  is  a  story  of  two  little  boys  in  the  street; 
one  was  crying  bitterly ;  the  other  came  to  him  to  ask  what  was 
the  matter  ;  '  I  have  been,'  says  he,  '  for  a  pennyworth  of  vinegar, 
and  I  have  broke  the  glass  and  spilled  the  vinegar,  and  my  mother 
will  whip  me.'  '  No,  she  won't  whip  you,'  says  the  other.  '  Indeed 
slie  will,'  says  he.  *  What,'  says  the  other,  '  have  you  then  got  ne'er 
a  grandmother ?'" 

Other  children  were  born  to  them,  all  of  whom  were  noted  in 
Philadelphia  for  their  robust  beauty.  One  of  them  still  (in  1862) 
survives.  The  descendants  of  Richard  Bache  and  Sarah  Franklin 
now  number  one  hundred  and  ten,  of  whom  ten'  are  serving  in  the 
Union  army,  not  one  in  the  ranks  of  treason. 

Let  me  by  no  means  forget  to  mention  that  Mrs.  Franklin  kept 
her  husband  supplied  with  American  dainties,  such  as  Indian  meal, 
cranberries,  apples,  dried  peaches,  dried  fish,  hickory  nuts,  and  the 
raw  material  of  buckwheat  cakes.  "Since  I  cannot  be  in  America," 
he  would  write  "  every  thing  that  comes  from  thence  comforts  me  a 
little,  as  being  something  like  home."  Few  captains  sailed  from 
Philadelphia  for  England  who  were  not  charged  with  parcels  and 
hampers  of  home  products,  to  be  delivered  at  No.  7  Craven  Street, 
Strand.  A  neat  little  note  found  among  Franklin's  papers,  shows 
that  the  supply  sometimes  exceeded  the  Craven  Street  demand : 
"  Dr.  Franklin  presents  his  respectful  compliments  to  Lord  Bath- 
urst,  with  some  American  nuts  ;  and  to  Lady  Bathurst,  with  some 
American  apples  ;  which  he  prays  they  will  accept  as  a  tribute  from 
that  country,  small  indeed,  but  voluntary P 

A  strange  occurrence  brought  to  the  mind  of  Franklin,  in  IVVl, 
a  vivid  recollection  of  his  childhood.  A  dealer  in  old  books,  whose 
shop  he  sometimes  visited,  called  his  attention  one  day  to  a  coUec- 


AGED    6Y.]  PRIVATE   LIFE   ANT)   STUDIES.  623 

tion  of  pamphlets,  bound  in  thirty  volumes,  dating  from  the  Resto- 
ration to  1715.  The  dealer  offered  them  to  Franklin,  as  he  said,  be- 
cause many  of  the  subjects  of  the  pamphlets  were  such  as  usually 
interested  him.  Upon  examining  the  collection,  he  found  that  one  of 
the  blank  leaves  of  each  volume  contained  a  catalogue  of  its  contents, 
and  the  price  each  pamphlet  had  cost ;  there  were  notes  and  com- 
ments also  in  the  margin  of  several  of  the  pieces.  A  closer  scru- 
tiny revealed  that  the  handwriting  was  that  of  his  Uncle  Benjamin, 
the  rhyming  friend  and  counselor  of  his  childhood.  (Jther  circum- 
stances combined  with  this  surprising  fact  to  prove  that  the  collec- 
tion had  been  made  by  his  uncle,  who  had  probably  sold  it  when 
he  emigrated  t6  America,  fifty- six  years  before.  Franklin  bought 
the  volumes,  and  gave  an  account  of  the  circumstance  to  his  Uncle 
Benjamin's  son,  who  still  lived  and  flourished  in  Boston.  "The 
oddity  is,"  he  wrote,  "  that  the  bookseller,  who  could  suspect  noth- 
ing of  any  relation  between  me  and  the  collector,  should  happen  to 
make  me  the  offer  of  them." 

During  this  ten  years'  exile  in  England,  we  find  Franklin  still 
exerting  his  talents  in  the  way  of  practical  philanthropy  and  patri- 
otism. If  he  visited  a  hospital,  he  thought  of  the  hospital  in  Phila- 
delphia, which  he  had  helped  to  found,  and  sent  over  to  the  mana- 
gers any  rules,  papers,  or  suggestions  which  he  thought  they  might 
find  useful.  When  one  of  the  managers  sent  him  word  that  they 
had  resolved  to  begin  the  formation  of  a  medical  library  in  the  hos- 
pital, he  sent  them  the  only  medical  book  he  possessed,  and  solicited 
donations  of  similar  works  from  his  medical  friends.  The  silk  cul- 
ture he  labored  to  promote  in  Pennsylvania,  by  sending  over  masses 
of  information  on  the  subject,  and  urging  it  as  a  branch  of  industry, 
profitable  in  itself,  and  not  offensive  to  the  English  government, 
since  silk  was  not  an  article  produced  in  England.  A  company  of 
silk  growers  was  formed  in  the  province,  and  Franklin  had  soon 
the  pleasure  of  presenting  to  the  queen,  through  Sir  John  Pringle,  a 
sample  of  American  silk,  which  she  not  only  accepted,  but  wore  in 
the  form  of  a  dress.  He  acknowledged  the  obligation  in  his  politest 
manner,  in  a  note  to  Sir  John  Pringle :  "  Dr.  Franklin  is  very  happy 
to  learn  that  the  Queen  has  graciously  condescended  to  accept  the 
silk  with  the  purpose  of  wearing  it.  Her  Majesty's  countenance 
so  afforded  to  the  raisers  of  silk  in  Pennsylvania,  where  her  charac- 
ter is  highly  revered,  will  give  them  great  encouragement  to  pro- 


524  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l778. 

ceed  in  a  measure,  which  the  British  Parliament  seems  to  have  had 
much  at  heart,  the  procuring  a  supply  of  that  valuable  article  from 
our  colonies,  for  which  at  present  large  sums  are  paid  to  France, 
Spain,  Italy,  and  the  Indies." 

For  Harvard  College  he  procured,  in  1769,  a  telescope,  at  the  re- 
quest of  the  trustees,  as  well  as  other  instruments  for  the  use  of 
the  astronomical  professor.  The  acquisition  of  the  telescope,  which 
cost  one  hundred  guineas,  was  a  considerable  event  in  the  history 
of  the  college.  To  the  library  of  Harvard  he  sent  an  occasional 
parcel  of  books,  his  own  gift,  or  presented  by  some  of  his  friends 
to  the  rising  college  of  the  New  World.  For  his  friend  and  corre- 
spondent, the  Rev.  Samuel  Cooper,  a  distinguished  clergyman  of 
Boston,  and  a  steadfast  patriot,  he  procured  from  the  university  of 
Edinburgh  the  honorary  title  of  doctor  of  divinity ;  a  great  dis- 
tinction in  those  simple  old  days,  particularly  in  the  colonies. 
Young  gentlemen  from  America  who  came  to  England  for  episco- 
pal ordination,  or  to  study  law,  or  on  other  errands  of  duty  or 
pleasure,  usually  brought  letters  of  introduction  to  Dr.  Franklin, 
who  gave  them  hearty  welcome  and  hospitality.  It  is  pleasing  to 
note  in  his  letters  how  careful  he  was  to  bestow  upon  the  parents 
of  such  youths  the  sweet  cordial  of  a  laudatory  or  hopeful  mention 
of  their  sons. 

In  1771  a  noble  dream  of  benevolence  was  originated  in  the  cir- 
cle frequented  by  Dr.  Franklin.  Lieutenant  Cook,  in  June  of  that 
year,  returned  to  England  in  the  ship  Endeavor,  from  his  first 
voyage  round  the  world.  His  discoveries,  which  opened  the  won- 
drous realm  of  the  Pacific  to  the  contemplation  of  Euro23e,  were 
the  theme  of  every  tongue.  Prompt  promotion,  liberal  appoint- 
ments, and  universal  celebrity  rewarded  the  adventurous  son  of  a 
^Torkshire  farm  laborer.  Captain  Cook  and  New  Zealand  becom- 
ing the  topic  of  discourse,  one  evening,  at  a  learned  club  to  which 
Dr.  Franklin  belonged,  the  conversation  took,  at  length,  a  practical 
turn,  which  led  to  the  scheme  just  referred  to.  The  Pacific  islands, 
said  one  gentleman,  were  inhabited  by  a  brave  and  generous  race 
who  were  destitute  of  corn,  fowls,  and  all  quadrupeds  except  dogs ; 
was  it  not  incumbent  on  such  a  nation  as  England  to  send  to  them 
the  seeds,  the  domestic  animals,  the  metals,  the  inventions,  the  con- 
veniences, most  of  which  England  herself  had  derived  from  otlier 
lands,  and  which  had  become  so  essential  to  her  welfare  ?     Capti- 


AGED    67.]  PRIVATE    LIFE   AND    STUDIES.  525 

vated  with  the  idea,  Franklin  said,  "  With  all  my  heart  I  would  sub- 
scribe to  a  voyage  intended  to  communicate,  in  general,  those  bene- 
fits which  we  enjoy  to  countries  destitute  of  them  in  the  remote 
parts  of  the  globe."  The  company  took  up  the  project  with  enthu- 
siasm. A  naval  officer  present,  Mr.  Alexander  Dalrymple,  offered 
to  undertake  the  command  of  the  ship  proposed,  and  he  was  re- 
quested to  draw  up  an  outline  of  the  scheme  for  the  considera- 
tion of  the  benevolent.  He  complied  with  the  request,  and  showed 
that  the  expense  of  a  three  years'  voyage,  with  the  requisite  cargo 
of  seeds  and  animals,  would  amount  to  about  fifteen  thousand 
pounds.  To  Mr.  Dalrymple's  statement  Dr.  Franklin  prefixed 
some  introductory  observations,  in  his  best  manner,  and  the  whole 
was  printed  in  the  form  of  a  circular. 

"Britain,"  wrote  Franklin,  "is  said  to  have  produced  originally' 
nothing  but  sloes.  What  vast  advantages  have  been  communicated 
to  her  by  the  fruits,  seeds,  roots,  herbage,  animals,  and  arts  of  other 
countries!  We  are,  by  their  means,  become  a  wealthy  and  a 
mighty  nation,  abounding  in  all  good  things.  Does  not  some  duty 
hence  arise  from  us  towards  other  countries,  still  remaining  in  our 
former  state  ?  *  *  Ceres  is  said  to  have  made  a  journey  through 
many  countries  to  teach  the  use  of  corn,  and  the  art  of  raising  it. 
For  this  single  benefit  the  grateful  nations  deified  her.  How  much 
more  may  Englishmen  deserve  such  honor,  by  communicating  the 
knowledge  and  use,  not  of  corn  only,  but  of  all  the  other  enjoy- 
ments the  earth  can  produce,  and  which  they  are  now  in  possession 
of.  Comniuniter  bona  profundere^  DeUm  est.  Many  voyages  have 
been  undertaken  with  views  of  profit  or  of  plunder,  or  to  gratify  re- 
sentment ;  to  procure  some  advantage  to  ourselves,  or  do  some  mis- 
chief to  others.  But  a  voyage  is  now  proposed,  to  visit  a  distant 
people  on  the  other  side  the  globe ;  not  to  cheat  them,  not  to  rob 
them,  not  to  seize  their  lands,  or  enslave  their  persons ;  but  merely 
to  do  them  good,  and  make  them,  as  far  as  in  our  power  lies,  to 
live  as  comfortably  as  ourselves." 

Then,  as  was  his  wont,  he  added  a  few  sentences  designed  to 
show  that  a  commercial  nation  like  Great  Britain  had  an  interest  in 
extending  the  area  of  civilization ;  because  civilization  creates  the 
wants  which  England  was  enriched  by  supplying. 

This  amiable  and  novel  project  was  not  carried  out  in  the  man- 
ner contemplated  by  the  subscribers  to  the  fund.     The  object  pro- 


526  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1773. 

posed  was  accomplished,  in  part,  by  incorporating  the  scheme  with 
that  of  discovery.  Captain  Cook  himself  was  charged  with  the 
duty  of  leaving  pairs  of  animals  upon  the  islands  of  the  Pacific,  and 
other  navigators  continued  the  work,  to  the  advantage  of  the 
natives  and  to  European  mariners.  Other  parts  of  the  scheme 
have  been  executed,  in  later  times,  by  missionaries.  It  was,  indeed, 
a  sublime  conception,  worthy  of  a  success  more  complete  than  has 
yet  been  found  possible.  The  defective  (^.  e.,  the  savage)  races 
were  not  then  understood.  All  men  appear  to  have  supposed,  a 
hundred  years  ago,  that  the  civilization  of  one  race  was  capable  of 
being  communicated  to  another.  I  wonder  that  Franklin  should 
have  thought  so,  who  had  had  opportunities  of  observing  closely 
the  North  American  Indians,  and  had  seen,  in  his  own  Penn- 
sylvania, how  the  white  man's  civilization  touched  them  only  to 
destroy.  Perhaps  he  supposed  the  Pacific  savages  to  be  of  differ- 
ent and  nobler  quality. 

The  irregular  spelling  of  the  English  language  had  often  been  the 
subject  of  Dr.  Franklin's  jocular  complaint.  He  used  to  say  that 
they  alone  spelt  well  who  spelt  ill,  since  the  bad  speller,  so  called, 
used  the  letters  according  to  their  nature.  The  illiterate  girl  who 
wrote  of  her  5o,  was  a  more  correct  speller,  he  thought,  than  the 
young  lady  who  would  not  for  the  world  omit  a  superfluous  vowel. 
What  was  the  use  of  the  final  letter  in  mujjt]  and  why  take  the 
trouble  to  write  tough  when  tuf  would  answer  the  purpose? 
There  can  be  no  doubt,  that  if  he  had  lived  to  the  time  when  Dr. 
Noah  "Webster  published  his  dictionary,  he  would  have  heartily 
welcomed  the  abbreviated  and  simplified  spelling  which  formerly 
excited  so  much  clamor  against  that  great  work.  He  would  have 
supported  the  lexicographer  in  innovations  far  more  radical  and  ex- 
tensive than  those  upon  which  he  dared  venture. 

During  one  of  the  lulls  in  the  storm  of  politics,  he  amused  him- 
self in  framing  a  Reformed  Alphabet,  and  forming  a  new  system  of 
spelling,  similar  to  that  which  has  since  received  the  name  of  the 
phonetic.  Some  of  our  letters  he  omitted  from  his  alphabet ;  he 
invented  some  new  ones ;  and  changed  the  order,  making  o  the 
first  letter  and  m  the  last.  The  following  specimen  will  give  the 
reader  an  idea  of  this  Reformed  Alphabet,  but  will  not,  probably, 
in<luce  him  to  adopt  it : 


AGED    67.}  PKIVATE   LIFE    AND    STUDIES.  627 

So  huen  51/m  end^el,  byi  dwyin  Tzamandj 
TJill  ryizi^  tempests  ^eeks  e  gilti  land, 
(S^tj^  az  av  leet  or  peel  Britania  past,) 
Kalm  and  siriin  hi  dryivs  Iji  fiuriy^s  blast ; 
*  And,  pliiz'd  1^  ahnyitis  ardyrs  tu  pyrfarm, 
Ryids  in  1^  huyrluind  and  dyirekts  l}}  starm,^ 


So  Ty,  piur  limpid  striim,  huen  faul  uiti  steens 
av  ry^ig.  tarents  and  disendig.  reens, 
Uyrks  itself  kliir ;   and  az  it  ryns  rifyins  ; 
TU  hyi  digriis,  l}i  flotig.  miryr  fiyins, 
Miflekts  iitj^  flaur  \at  an  its  iardyr  groz, 
Jbid  e  nu  hev'n  in  its  feer  lyzym  '^oz,  + 

The  only  convert  which  he  appears  to  have  made  to  the  puzzling 
simplicity  of  his  Reformed  Alphabet  was  Miss  Stevenson,  who  ac 
quired  sufficient  dexterity  to  read  long  letters  in  it,  and  to  w^rite 
very  short  ones. 

Frankhn  did  not  forsake  his  ancient  love,  the  observation  of  nat- 
ural phenomena.  He  devoted  much  time  at  this  part  of  his  life  to 
the  study  of  the  air,  ventilation,  the  causes  of  colds  and  other  com- 
plaints arising  from  an  impure  atmosphere.  Dr.  Small  assigns  him 
the  credit  of  having  discovered  that  repeated  respiration  imparts  to 
the  air  a  poisonous  quality,  similar  to  that  which  extinguishes  can- 

*  So  when  some  angel,  by  divine  command, 
Witli  rising  tempests  seeks  a  guilty  land 
(Such  as  of  late  o'er  jjale  Britannia  passed). 
Calm  and  serene  he  drives  his  furious  blast; 
And,  pleased  the  Almighty's  orders  to  perform, 
Kides  in  the  whirlwind  and  directs  the  storm. 

t  So  the  pure  limpid  stream,  when  foul  with  stains 
Of  rising  torrents  or  descending  rains, 
Works  itself  clear ;  and  as  it  runs  refines ; 
Till,  by  degrees,  thy  floating  mirror  shines, 
Keflects  each  flower  that  on  its  border  grows, 
And  a  new  beav'n  in  its  fair  bosom  shews. 


528  LIFE   AND   TIMES  OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1773. 

dies  and  destroys  life  in  mines  and  wells.  "  The  doctor,"  he  records, 
"  breathed  gently  through  a  tube  into  a  deep  glass  mug,  so  as  to 
impregnate  all  the  air  in  the  mug  with  this  quality.  He  then  put  a 
lighted  bougie  into  the  mug;  and  upon  touching  the  air  therein 
the  flame  was  instantly  extinguished ;  by  frequently  repeating  this 
operation,  the  bougie  gradually  preserved  its  light  longer  in  the 
mug,  so  as  in  a  short  time  to  retain  it  to  the  bottom  of  it ;  the  air 
having  totally  lost  the  bad  quality  it  had  contracted  from  the 
Dreath  blown  into  it." 

His  advice  being  asked  with  regard  to  the  better  ventilation  of 
the  House  of  Commons,  he  offered  a  suggestion  which  was  not 
adopted,  promising  as  it  seems.  He  proposed  that  openings  should 
be  made  near  the  ceiling,  communicating  with  flues  running  parallel 
with  the  chimneys,  and  close  enough  to  them  to  be  kept  warm  by 
their  heat.  These  flues,  he  recommended,  should  begin  in  the  cel- 
lar, where  the  air  was  cool ;  and  the  flues  being  warm  would  cause 
an  upward  current  of  air  strong  enough  to  expel  the  vitiated  air  in 
the  upper  part  of  the  House.  Down  to  a  recent  period,  the  House 
of  Commons  was  insupportably  close  and  hot  when  there  was  a  full 
attendance  of  members. 

Dr.  Franklin  ridiculed  the  opinion,  once  universally  prevalent  in 
England,  that  cold  or  cold  air  is  the  cause  of  catching  cold.  Men, 
he  would  say,  who  narrowly  escape  being  frozen  to  death  do  not 
catch  cold  ;  as  he  could  testify  from  personal  experience.  Nor  was 
it  dangerous  to  sleep  with  the  window  open.  "He  mentioned  an 
instance,"  reports  Dr.  Small,  "  of  a  number  of  Germans,  who,  on 
their  arrival  in  Pennsylvania,  were  obliged  to  live  in  a  large  barn ; 
there  being  at  that  time  no  other  place  of  residence  fit  for  them. 
Several  small  windows  were  made  on  both  sides  of  the  barn  under 
the  eaves.  These  windows  were  kept  constantly  open,  even  during 
a  severe  frost  in  the  winter ;  and  this  without  any  detriment  to  the 
health  of  the  Germans.  Prejudice,  said  he,  has  raised  so  great  a 
dread  against  cold  air  in  England,  that  such  openings  would  make 
every  person  shudder  at  the  thought  of  being  exposed  to  so  great 
a  degree  of  cold ;  and  therefore  I  did  not  dare  to  recommend  a 
practice  the  good  effects  of  which  I  had  known.  The  dormitory 
for  the  youths  of  Westminster  School  is  a  similar  instance ;  for  the 
glass  put  in  their  high  lofty  windows  is  soon  broken,  but  seldom 
lepaired  ;  yet  without  prejudice  to  the  health  of  the  youths." 


\ 


AGED    G7.]  PRIVATE    LIFE   ASTD    STUDIES.  529 

Nor  would  he  allow  that  dampness  was  the  cause  of  colds ;  still 
less,  wetness ;  for  Indians  and  sailors,  who  are  continually  wet,  do 
not  catch  cold.  Boys  do  not  take  cold  by  swimming.  He  had 
himself  been  in  the  habit  of  remaining  in  the  Delaware,  of  a  sum- 
mer evening,  two  or  three  hours,  without  ever  being  afflicted  with 
that  malady.  The  people  who  inhabited  such  mist-enveloped  places 
as  the  Bermudas  and  Nova  Scotia,  were  not  more  liable  to  colds 
than  the  inhabitants  of  lands  remote  from  the  sea.  "Dampness 
may  indeed  assist  in  producing  putridity  and  those  miasmata  which 
infect  us  with  the  disorder  we  call  a  cold ;  but  of  itself  can  never 
by  a  little  addition  of  moisture  hurt  a  body  filled  with  watery  fluids 
from  head  to  foot." 

What,  then,  is  the  cause  of  colds  ?  He  answers  the  question  thus, 
in  a  letter  to  Dr.  Rush,  of  Philadelphia  :  "  I  have  long  been  satis- 
fied from  observation,  that  besides  the  general  colds  now  termed 
influenzas  (which  may  possibly  spread  by  contagion,  as  well  as  by 
a  particular  quality  of  the  air),  people  often  catch  cold  from  one 
another  when  shut  up  together  in  close  rooms  and  coaches,  and 
when  sitting  near  and  conversing  so  as  to  breathe  in  each  other's 
transpiration  ;  the  disorder  being  in  a  certain  state.  I  think,  too, 
that  it  is  the  frouzy,  corrupt  air  from  animal  substances,  and  the 
perspired  matter  from  our  bodies,  which  being  long  confined  in 
beds  not  lately  used,  and  clothes  not  lately  worn,  and  books  long 
shut  up  in  close  rooms,  obtains  that  kind  of  putridity  which  occa- 
sions the  colds  observed  upon  sleeping  in,  wearing,  and  turning 
over  such  bedclothes  or  books,  and  not  their  coldness  or  dampness. 
From  these  causes,  but  more  from  too  full  living,  with  too  little 
exercise,  proceed,  in  my  opinion,  most  of  the  disorders  which,  for 
about  one  hundred  and  fifty  years  past,  the  English  have  called 
coldsr 

This  view  is  supported  by  our  late  warlike  experience.  Soldiers 
encamped  in  the  mud  on  the  banks  of  the  Potomac,  if  they  had  the 
good  fortune  to  have  a  colonel  and  a  surgeon  who  exacted  strict 
cleanliness,  strict  temperance,  and  good  cookery,  retained  their 
health  through  an  unusually  inclement  winter  in  an  astonishing  de- 
gree ;  while  camps  unclean,  tents  ill  ventilated,  rations  indigestible, 
aided  by  irregular  and  furtive  whiskey,  kept  whole  regiments 
sneezing,  and  sent  men  to  the  hospitals  in  troops. 

Dr.  Franklin's  letters  of  this  period  are  full  of  this  subject.  Ho 
23 


530  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1773. 

was  among  the  first  who  called  attention  to  the  cruel  folly  of  ex- 
cluding fresh  air  from  hospitals  and  sick  rooms,  particularly  those 
of  fever  patients.  Unquestionably  he  was  the  originator  of  the 
modern  art  of  ventilation.  He  cleared  the  pure  air  of  heaven  from 
calumnious  imputation,  and  threw  open  the  windows  of  mankind. 

A  complete  statement  of  Dr.  Franklin's  philosophical  investiga- 
tions at  this  i^eriod  of  his  life  would  fill  a  volume ;  and  we  have 
not  a  volume  to  spare.  Never  was  his  mind  more  on  the  alert, 
or  more  successfully  employed.  We  see  him  expatiating  in  his 
letters  upon  such  diverse  topics  as  chimneys  and  swimming  ;  me- 
tallic roofs  and  spots  on  the  sun  ;  the  average  fall  of  rain  and  fire- 
proof stairs ;  the  torpedo,  the  Armonica,  and  the  northwest  passage ; 
the  magnet  and  improved  carriage  wheels ;  glass-blowing.  Prince 
Rupert's  drops,  and  the  Aurora  Borealis  ;  the  inflammatory  gases 
and  the  effect  of  vegetation  upon  air  and  water.  Nothing  escaped 
him  that  transpired  in  philosophic  circles,  and  his  remarks  on 
subjects  agitated  therein  were  always  valuable,  and  frequently 
original.  It  is,  however,  the  7nethod  of  a  philosopher  that  chiefly 
benefits  those  who  come  after  him ;  the  method  being,  as  it  were, 
the  pathway,  which,  when  discovered  and  described,  any  intelligent 
mind  can  pursue,  and  reach  interesting  results.  Franklin's  method 
is  particularly  noticeable,  because  it  was  not  that  of  a  professor, 
whose  occupation  it  is  to  investigate,  but  of  a  man  naturally  interested 
in  the  phenomena  surrounding  him,  who  studies  them  with  a  purely 
human  curiosity.  Any  man  or  woman  can  study  nature  as  Frank- 
lin studied  it,  and  with  success  enough  to  enlighten  and  cheer  the 
mind.  I  will,  therefore,  give  two  or  three  illustrations  of  the 
simple  and  natural  process  by  which  this  busy  politician  was  ac- 
customed to  arrive  at  scientific  truths. 

The  curious  eflect  of  oil  upon  troubled  waters  puzzled  him  for 
many  years.  Let  us  see  how  he  pursued  the  inquiry.  "In  1757," 
he  wrote,  "  being  at  sea  in  a  fleet  of  ninety-six  sail  bound  against 
Louisbourg,  I  observed  the  wakes  of  two  of  the  ships  to  be  re- 
markably smooth,  while  all  the  others  were  ruflled  by  the  wind, 
which  blew  fresh.  Being  puzzled  with  the  differing  appearance,  I 
at  last  pointed  it  out  to  our  captain,  and  asked  him  the  meaning  of 
it.  *  The  cooks,'  says  he,  '  have,  I  suppose,  been  just  emptying 
their  greasy  water  through  the  scuppers,  which  has  greased  the 
sides  of  those  ships  a  little;'  and  this  answer  he  gave  me  with  an 


AGED    67.]  PRIVATE   LIFE    AND   STUDIES.  531 

air  of  some  little  contempt,  as  to  a  person  ignorant  of  what  every- 
body else  knew.     In  my  own   mind  I   at  first  slighted  his  solu- 
tion, though  I  was  not  able  to  think  of  another ;  but  recollecting 
what  I  had  formerly  read  in  Pliny,  I  resolved  to  make  some  experi 
ment  of  the  effect  of  oil  on  water,  when  I  should  have  opportunity. 
"  Afterwards,  being  again  at  sea  in   1762,1  first  observed  the 
wonderful  quietness  of  oil  on  agitated  water,  in  the  swinging  glass 
lamp  I  made  to  hang  up  in  the  cabin,  as  described  in  my  printed 
papers.     This  I  was  continually  looking  at  and  considering,  as  an 
appearance  to  me  inexplicable.     An  old  sea  captain,  then  a  passen- 
ger with  me,  thought  little  of  it,  supposing  it  an  effect  of  the  same 
kind  with  that  of  oil  put  on  water  to  smooth  it,  which  he  said  was 
a  practice  of  the  Bermudians  when  they  would  strike  fish,  which 
they  could  not  see  if  the  surface  of  the  water  was  ruffled  by  the 
wind.     The  same  gentleman  told  me  he  had  heard  it  was  a  prac- 
^  tice  with  the  fishermen  of  Lisbon,  when  about  to  return  into  the 
river  (if  they  saw  before  them  too  great  a  surf  upon  the  bar,  which 
they  apprehended  might  fill  their  boats  in  passing)  to  empty  a  bottle 
or  two  of  oil  into  the  sea,  which  would  suppress  the  breakers,  and 
allow  them  to  pass  safely.     A  confirmation  of  this  I  have  not  since 
had  an  opportunity  of  obtaining ;  but  discoursing  of  it  with  another 
person,  who  had  often  been  in  the  Mediterranean,  I  was  informed 
that  the  divers  there,  who,  when  under  water  in  their  business, 
need  light,  which  the  curling  of  the  surface  interrupts  by  the  re- 
fractions of  so  many  little  waves,  let  a  small  quantity  of  oil  now 
and  then  out  of  their  mouths,  which  rising  to  the  surface  smooths 
it,  and  permits  the  light  to  come  down  to  them.    All  these  informa- 
tions I  at  times  revolved  in  my  mind,  and  wondered  to  find  no 
mention  of  them  in  our  books  of  experimental  philosophy. 

"  At  length  being  at  Clapham,  where  there  is,  on  the  common,  a 
large  pond,  which  I  observed  one  day  to  be  very  rough  with  the 
wind,  I  fetched  out  a  cruet  of  oil,  and  dropped  a  little  of  it  on  the 
water.  I  saw  it  spread  itself  with  surprising  swiftness  upon  the 
surface  ;  but  the  effect  of  smoothing  the  waves  was  not  produced ; 
for  I  had  applied  it  first  on  the  leeward  side  of  the  pond,  where  the 
waves  were  largest,  and  the  wind  drove  my  oil  back  upon  the 
shore.  I  then  went  to  the  windward  side,  where  they  began  to 
form ;  and  there  the  oil,  though  not  more  than  a  teaspoonful,  pro- 
duced an  instant  calm  over  a  space  several  yards  square,  which 


532  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l773. 

spread  amazingly,  and  extended  itself  gradually,  till  it  reached  the 
lee  side,  making  all  that  quarter  of  the  pond,  perhaps  half  an  acre, 
as  smooth  as  a  looking-glass. 

"  After  this  I  contrived  to  take  with  me,  whenever  I  went  into 
the  country,  a  little  oil  in  the  upper  hollow  joint  of  my  bamboo 
cane,  with  which  I  might  repeat  the  experiment,  as  opportunity 
should  offer,  and  I  found  it  constantly  to  succeed. 

"  In  these  experiments,  one  circumstance  struck  me  with  particu- 
lar surprise.  This  was  the  sudden,  wide,  and  forcible  spreading  of 
a  drop  of  oil  on  the  face  of  the  water,  which  I  do  not  know  that 
anybody  has  hitherto  considered.  If  a  drop  of  oil  is  put  on  a 
highly  polished  marble  table,  or  on  a  looking-glass  that  lies  hori- 
zontally, the  drop  remains  in  its  place,  spreading  very  little ;  but 
when  put  on  water,  it  spreads  instantly  many  feet  round,  becoming 
so  thin  as  to  produce  the  prismatic  colors,  for  a  considerable  space, 
and  beyond  them  so  much  thinner  as  to  be  invisible,  except  in  its 
effect  of  smoothing  the  waves  at  a  much  greater  distance.  It 
seems  as  if  a  mutual  repulsion  between  its  particles  took  place  as 
soon  as  it  touched  the  water,  and  a  repulsion  so  strong  as  to  act  on 
other  bodies  swimming  on  the  surface,  as  straws,  leaves,  chips,  &c., 
forcing  them  to  recede  every  way  from  the  drop,  as  from  a  centre, 
leaving  a  large,  clear  space.  The  quantity  of  this  force,  and  the 
distance  to  which  it  will  operate,  I  have  not  yet  ascertained  ;  but  I 
think  it  a  curious  inquiiy,  and  I  wish  to  understand  whence  it 
arises. 

"  In  our  journey  to  the  North,  we  visited  the  celebrated  Mr. 
Smeaton,  near  Leeds.  Being  about  to  show  him  the  smoothing 
experiment  on  a  little  pond  near  his  house,  an  ingenious  pupil  of 
his,  Mr.  Jessop,  then  present,  told  us  of  an  odd  appearance  on  that 
pond,  which  had  lately  occurred  to  him.  He  was  about  to  clean  a 
little  cup,  in  which  he  kept  oil,  and  he  threw  upon  the  water  some 
flies  that  had  been  drowned  in  the  oil.  These  flies  presently  began 
to  move,  and  turned  round  on  the  water  very  rapidly,  as  if  they 
were  vigorously  alive,  though,  on  examination,  he  found  they  were 
not  so.  I  immediately  concluded  that  the  motion  was  occasioned 
by  the  power  of  the  repulsion  above  mentioned,  and  that  the  oil 
issuing  gradually  from  the  spongy  body  of  the  fly  continued  the 
motion.  He  found  some  moie  flies  drowned  in  oil,  with  which  the 
experiment  was  repeated  before  us.     To  show  that  it  was  not  any 


AGED    67.]  PRIVATE   LIFE    AND   STUDIES.  533 

effect  of  life  recovered  by  the  flies,  I  imitated  it  by  little  bits  of  oiled 
chips  and  paper,  cut  in  the  form  of  a  comma,  of  the  size  of  a  com- 
mon fly ;  when  the  stream  of  repelling  particles,  issuing  from 
the  poiut,  made  the  comma  turn  round  the  contrary  way.  This  is 
not  a  chamber  experiment ;  for  it  cannot  be  well  repeated  in  a  bowl 
or  dish  of  water  on  a  table.  A  considerable  surface  of  water  is 
necessary  to  give  room  for  the  expansion  of  a  small  quantity  of  oil. 
In  a  dish  of  water,  if  the  smallest  drop  of  oil  be  let  fall  in  the  mid- 
dle, the  whole  surface  is  presently  covered  with  a  thin  greasy  film, 
proceeding  from  the  drop  ;  but  as  soon  as  that  film  has  reached  the 
sides  of  thy  dish,  no  more  will  issue  from  the  drop,  but  it  remains 
in  the  form  of  oil,  the  sides  of  the  dish  putting  a  stop  to  its  dissi- 
pation, by  prohibiting  the  farther  expansion  of  the  film. 

"  Our  friend,  Sir  John  Pringie,  being  soon  after  in  Scotland, 
learned  there,  that  those  employed  in  the  herring  fishery,  could  at 
a  distance  see  where  the  shoals  of  herring  were  by  the  smoothness 
of  the  water  over  them,  which  might  possibly  be  occasioned,  he 
thought,  by  some  oiliness  proceeding  from  their  bodies. 

"  A  gentleman  from  Rhode  Island  told  me  it  had  been  remarked, 
that  the  harbor  of  Newport  was  ever  smooth  while  any  whaling 
vessels  were  in  it ;  which,  probably,  arose  from  hence,  that  the 
blubber,  which  they  sometimes  bring  loose  in  the  hold,  or  the  leak- 
age of  their  barrels,  might  afford  some  oil  to  mix  with  that  water, 
which,  from  time  to  time,  they  pump  out  to  keep  their  vessel  free, 
and  that  some  oil  might  spread  over  the  surface  of  the  water  in  the 
harbor,  and  prevent  the  forming  of  any  waves." 

Such  were  liis  facts.  The  simple  explanation  at  which  he  arrived 
was,  that  "  the  wind  blowing  over  water  thus  covered  with  a  film  of 
oil,  cannot  easily  catcli  upon  it,  so  as  to  raise  the  first  wrinkles,  but 
slides  over  it,  and  leaves  it  smooth  as  it  finds  it."  This  is  the  sub- 
stance of  the  theory,  which  he  supports  at  considerable  length. 

Another  example  of  his  method.  He  writes  to  Sir  John  Pringie : 
"When  we  were  traveling  together  in  Holland,  you  remarked 
that  the  canal-bont  in  one  of  the  stages  went  slower  than  usual, 
and  inquired  of  the  boatman  what  might  be  the  reason  ;  who  an- 
swered that  it  had  been  a  dry  season,  and  the  water  in  the  canal 
was  low.  On  being  again  asked  if  it  was  so  low  as  that  the  boat 
touched  the  muddy  bottom ;  he  said  no,  not  so  low  as  that,  but 
so  low  as  to  make  it  harder  for  the  horse  to  draw  the  boat.     We 


634  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP  BENJAMIN  PEANKLIN.  [l773. 

neither  of  us  at  first  could  conceive  that,  if  there  was  water 
enough  for  the  boat  to  swim  clear  of  the  bottom,  its  being  deeper 
would  make  any  difference.  But,  as  the  man  affirmed  it  seriously 
as  a  thing  well  known  among  them,  and  as  the  punctuality  required 
in  their  stages  was  likely  to  make  such  difference,  if  any  there 
were,  more  readily  observed  by  them  than  by  other  watermen  who 
did  not  pass  so  regularly  and  constantly  backwards  and  forwards 
in  the  same  track,  I  began  to  apprehend  there  might  be  something 
in  it,  and  attempted  to  account  for  it  from  this  consideration,  that 
the  boat,  in  proceeding  along  the  canal,  must  in  every  boat's  length 
of  her  course,  move  out  of  her  way  a  body  of  water  equal  in  bulk 
to  the  room  her  bottom  took  up  in  the  water ;  that  the  water  so 
moved  must  pass  on  each  side  of  her,  and  under  her  bottom,  to  get 
behind  her ;  that,  if  the  passage  under  her  bottom  was  straitened 
by  the  shallows,  more  of  that  water  must  pass  by  her  sides,  and 
with  a  swifter  motion,  which  would  retard  her,  as  moving  the  con- 
trary way ;  or  that,  the  water  becoming  lower  behind  the  boat 
than  before,  she  was  pressed  back  by  the  weight  of  its  difference 
in  hight,  and  her  motion  retarded  by  having  that  weight  constantly 
to  overcome.  But,  as  it  is  often  lost  time  to  attempt  accounting  for 
uncertain  facts,  I  determined  to  make  an  experiment  of  this,  when 
I  should  have  convenient  time  and  opportunity. 

"  After  our  return  to  England,  as  often  as  I  happened  to  be  on 
the  Thames,  I  inquired  of  our  watermen  whether  they  were  sensible 
of  any  difference  in  rowing  over  shallow  or  deep  water.  I  found 
them  all  agreeing  in  the  fact  that  there  was  a  very  great  difference, 
but  they  differed  widely  in  expressing  the  quantity  of  the  differ- 
ence ;  some  supposing  it  was  equal  to  a  mile  in  six,  others  to  a  mile 
in  three.  As  I  did  not  recollect  to  have  met  with  any  mention  of 
this  matter  in  our  philosophical  books,  and  conceiving  that,  if  the 
difference  should  really  be  great,  it  might  be  an  object  of  consider- 
ation in  the  many  projects  now  on  foot  for  digging  new  navigable 
canals  in  this  island,  I  lately  put  my  design  of  making  the  experi- 
ment in  execution,  in  the  following  manner  : 

"  I  provided  a  trough  of  planed  boards  fourteen  feet  long,  six 
inches  wide,  and  six  inches  deep  in  the  clear,  filled  with  water 
within  half  an  inch  of  the  edge,  to  represent  a  canal.  1  had  a  loose 
board  of  nearly  the  same  length  and  breadth,  that,  being  put  into 
the  water,  might  be  sunk  to  any  depth,  and  fixed  by  little  wedges 


AGED    67.]  PEIVATE   LIFE   AND   STUDIES.  636 

wliere  I  would  choose  to  have  it  stay,  in  order  to  make  different 
depths  of  water,  leaving  the  surface  at  the  same  hight  with  regard 
to  the  sides  of  the  trough.  I  had  a  little  boat  in  form  of  a  lighter 
or  boat  of  burden,  six  inches  long,  two  inches  and  a  quarter  wide, 
and  one  inch  and  a  quarter  deep.  When  swimming,  it  drew  one  inch 
water.  To  give  motion  to  the  boat,  I  fixed  one  end  of  a  long  silk 
thread  to  its  bow,  just  even  with  the  water's  edge,  the  other  end 
passed  over  a  well-made  brass  pulley,  of  about  an  inch  diameter, 
turning  freely  on  a  small  axis ;  and  a  shilling  was  the  weight.  Then 
placing  the  boat  at  one  end  of  the  trough,  the  weight  would  draw 
it  through  the  water  to  the  other.  Not  having  a  watch  that  shows 
seconds,  in  order  to  measure  the  time  taken  up  by  the  boat  in  pass- 
ing from  end  to  end,  I  counted  as  fiist  as  I  could  count  to  ten  re- 
peatedly, keeping  an  account  of  the  number  of  tens  on  my  fingers. 
And,  as  much  as  possible  to  correct  any  little  inequalities  in  my 
counting,  I  repeated  the  experiment  a  number  of  times  at  each 
depth  of  water,  that  I  might  take  the  medium." 

The  experiment  proved  the  truth  of  the  boatmen's  assertions.  He 
found  that  five  horses  would  be  required  to  draw  a  boat  in  a  canal 
affording  Httle  more  than  enough  water  to  float  it,  which  four 
horses  could  draw  in  a  canal  of  the  proper  depth. 

No  circumstance  was  too  trifling  to  set  him  upon  a  series  of  ex- 
periments. At  dinner,  one  day,  a  bottle  of  Madeira  was  opened 
which  had  been  bottled  in  Virginia  many  months  before.  Into  the 
first  glass  poured  from  it  fell  three  drowned  flies.  "  Having  heard 
it  remarked  that  drowned  flies  were  capable  of  being  revived  by 
the  rays  of  the  sun,  I  proposed  making  the  expeiiment  upon  these ; 
they  were  therefore  exposed  to  the  sun  upon  a  sieve,  which  had 
been  employed  to  strain  them  out  of  the  wine.  In  less  than  three 
hours  two  of  them  began  by  degrees  to  recover  life.  They  com- 
menced by  some  convulsive  motions  of  the  thighs,  and  at  length 
they  raised  themselves  upon  their  legs,  wiped  their  eyes  with  their 
fore  feet,  beat  and  brushed  their  wings  with  their  hind  feet,  and 
soon  after  began  to  fly,  finding  themselves  in  Old  England  without 
knowing  how  they  came  thither.  The  third  continued  hfeless  till 
sunset,  when,  losing  all  hopes  of  him,  he  was  thrown  away." 

Upon  this  he  remarks  :  "  I  wish  it  were  possible,  from  this  in- 
stance, to  invent  a  method  of  embalming  drowned  persons  in  sucli 
a  manner  that  they  may  be  recalled  to  life  at  any  period  however 


536  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [lYYS. 

distant ;  for  having  a  very  ardent  desire  to  see  and  observe  the  state 
of  America  a  hundred  years  teice,  I  should  prefer  to  any  ordinary 
death  the  being  immersed  inm  cask  of  Madeira  wine,  with  a  few 
friends,  till  that  time,  to  be  the«ecalled  to  life  by  the  sSlar  warmth 
of  my  dear  country  !"  The  poetry  and  the  prose  of  science  were 
equally  congenial  with  him. 

The  dense  volumes  of  coal  smoke  which  hang  over  London  sug- 
gested to  him  the  idea  of  contriving  a  stove  which  should  consume 
its  own  smoke.  He  completed  the  invention  in  1772,  and  had  a 
stove  of  this  description  in  operation  at  Craven  Street  during  the 
whole  of  the  following  winter.  It  answered  even  beyond  his  ex- 
pectations. He  intended  to  print  a  description  of  it ;  but  a  "  stress 
of  politics"  preventing,  the  beneficent  conception  lay  dormant  in 
smoky  England  until  about  the  year  1840,  when  the  principle  began 
to  be  applied  to  the  huge  factory  fires  of  the  north. 

His  discoveries  in  electricity  received  a  slight  national  recognition 
in  1769,  when  he  was  associated  with  Dr.  Cannon  and  others  in 
devising  a  system  of  lightning-rods  for  the  protection  of  St.  Paul's 
cathedral.  Three  years  later  he  was  one  of  a  Committee  of  the 
Royal  .Society  who  were  requested  by  government  to  draw  up  a 
plan  for  the  protection  of  the  principal  powder  magazines  from 
lightning.  Dr.  Franklin  wrote  the  report,  recommending  the  use 
of  pointed  rods,  to  which  all  the  Committee  agreed  but  one,  who 
favored  blunt  conductors.  A  discussion  on  the  subject  arose,  but 
Dr.  Franklin's  opinion  prevailed,  and  pointed  conductors  were 
placed  both  upon  the  magazines  and  upon  Buckingham  palace. 

Questions  in  political  economy  were  much  discussed  at  this  time 
in  Franklin's  circle.  Adam  Smith,  who  was  then  employed  in  wri-J 
ting  his  great  work  upon  the  Nature  and  Causes  of  the  Wealth  of  I 
Nations,  came,  several  times,  from  his  lonely  retreat  in  Scotland  to 
consult  with  learned  friends  in  London,  where  his  master,  Hume, 
was  established  as  under-secretary  of  state.*  That  Franklin  was 
one  of  those  from  whom  he  derived  important  aid,  could  be  easily 
demonstrated  by  a  comparison  of  passages  from  the  writings  of 
the  two  economists.  To  take  one  example  :  A  newspaper  article  by 
Franklin  upon  the  Laboring  Poor,  published  in  1 768,  five  years  before 
the  first  volume  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations  was  finished,  contains  the 
statement,  that  *'  our  laboring  poor  do  in  every  year  receive  the 

*  Hume  to  Adam  Smith,  t7T6. 


AGED   67.]  PRIVATE   LIFE    AND    STUDIES.  537 

whole  revenue  of  the  nation  ;  I  mean  not  only  the  public  revenue, 
but  also  the  revenue  or  clear  income  of  all  private  estates,  or  a  sum 
equivalent  to  the  whole,"  which  is  one  of  Adam  Smith's  most  stri- 
king positions,  the  corner-stone,  in  fact,  of  his  system.  We  have, 
also,  this  explicit  assertion  of  Mr.  Watson,  the  author  of  the  Annals 
of  Philadelphia :  "  Dr.  Franklin  once  told  Dr.  Logan,  that  the  cele- 
brated Adam  Smith,  when  writing  his  Wealth  of  I^^ations,  was  in 
the  habit  of  bringing  chaptei  Jl.  -^  chapter  as  he  composed  it,  to 
himself.  Dr.  Price,  and  others  of  the  literati ;  then  patiently  hear 
their  observations,  and  profit  by  their  discussions  and  criticisms ; 
sometimes  submitting  to  write  whole  chaptei'S  anew,  and  even  to 
reverse  some  of  his  propositions."  Hume,  writing  to  Adam  Smith 
in  1776,  says:  "Your  work  is  probably  much  improved  by  your 
last  abode  in  London."  The  papers  of  Franklin  which  belong  to 
this  period  contain  sets  of  problems  and  queries,  as  though  jotted 
down  at  some  meeting  of  philosophers  for  particular  consideration 
at  home.  A  glance  at  the  index  of  the  Wealth  of  Nations  will  suf- 
fice to  show  that  its  author  possessed  just  that  kind  of  knowledge 
of  the  American  colonies  which  Franklin  was,  of  all  men,  the  best 
fitted  to  impart.  The  allusions  to  the  colonies  may  be  counted  by 
hundreds ;  illustrations  drawn  from  their  condition  and  growth  occur 
in  nearly  every  chapter.  We  may  go  further,  and  say,  that  the 
American  colonies  constitute  the  experimental  evidence  of  the  es- 
sential truth  of  the  book ;  without  which  many  of  its  leading  posi- 
tions had  been  little  more  than  theory. 

In  contributing  his  quota  of  thought  and  knowledge  to  a  work 
which  the  author  of  the  History  of  Civilization  in  England  considers 
"  the  most  important  book  ever  written,"  and  "  the  most  valuable 
contribution  ever  made  by  a  single  man  towards  establishing  the 
principles  on  which  government  should  be  based,"*  Dr.  Franklin 
conferred  a  particular,  and,  perhaps,  not  unforeseen  benefit  upon  his 
own  country.  Among  the  causes  which  poured  such  a  tide  of  emi- 
gration into  the  United  States  during  the  early  years  of  their  inde- 
pendent existence,  may  be  reckoned  the  information  given  in  the 
Wealth  of  Nations  of  the  superior  advantages  which  a  poor,  young, 
free,  and  growing  nation  necessarily  ofiers  to  the  industrial  members 
of  states  that  are  rich,  restricted,  and  stationary. 

♦  Buckle's  "  History  of  Civilization  in  England,"  i.,  154. 


538         LIFE  AND   TIMES  OF  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.       [1773. 


CHAPTER  VII. 


De.  Franklin,  at  this  time,  appears  to  have  much  frequented 
"the  great  world,"  as  it  was  called  ;  not  only  the  circles  of  the  Op- 
position, but  of  the  King's  party  also.  He  was  often  at  Lord 
Shelburne's,  who  led  one  wing  of  the  Opposition,  and  knew  the 
Marquis  of  Rockingham,  the  head  of  the  other.  Lord  Le  Despencer 
and  Lord  Bathurst  entertained  him  often,  and,  until  about  the  year 
1773,  he  was  acquainted  even  with  Lord  North,  the  witty,  good- 
natured  minister  who  laughed  and  joked,  and  bought  the  House 
of  Commons  into  dismembering  the  British  empire.  Once  when 
his  son  had  asked  him  to  procure  a  small  appointment  for  a  relation, 
he  replied  that  he  was  not  upon  favor-asking  terms  with  Lord 
North  :  "  Displeased  with  something  he  said  relating  to  America, 
I  have  never  been  at  his  levees  since  the  first.  Perhaps  he  has 
taken  that  amiss.  For  the  last  week  we  met  occasionally  at  Lord 
Le  Despencer's,  in  our  return  from  Oxford,  where  I  had  been  to 
attend  the  solemnity  of  his  installation,  and  he  seemed  studiously 
to  avoid  speaking  to  me.  I  ought  to  be  ashamed  to  say  that  on 
such  occasions  I  feel  myself  to  be  as  proud  as  anybody.  His  lady 
indeed  was  more  gracious.  She  came  and  sat  down  by  me  on  the 
same  sofa,  and  condescended  to  enter  into  a  conversation  with  me 
agreeably  enough,  as  if  to  make  some  amends." 

He  had  not  long  to  wait  for  an  explanation  of  the  premier's  cool- 
ness ;  for  this  meeting  took  place  in  July,  1773.  The  event  seems 
to  have  opened  his  eyes  a  little  at  the  time ;  for  we  see  him,  in  the 
very  same  month,  intimating  to  his  son,  with  strict  charge  of  secrecy, 
a  suspicion,  never  before  expressed  by  him,  that  the  king  was  at 
the  bottom  of  the  American  mischief. 

On  one  occasion  in  London,  Dr.  Franklin  dined  with  a  royal  per- 
sonage, Christian  VII.,  King  of  Denmark,  a  brother-in-law  of  George 
III.  Horace  Walpole  speaks  of  this  young  king  as  "  an  insipid 
boy,"  who  "  took  notice  of  nothing,  took  pleasure  in  nothing,  and 
hurried  post  through  most  parts  of  England,  without  attention, 
dining  and  supping  at  seats  on  the  road,  without  giving  himself 
time  enough  to  remark  so  much  of  their  beauties  as  would  flatter 


AGED    67.]  FKANKLIN's   ENGLISH   TEIENDS.  639 

the  great  lords  who  treated  him."  The  same  cynic  assm'es  his 
readers  that  "  George  HI.  treated  his  guest  not  too  hospitably. 
'  No  one,'  he  says,  '  went  to  meet  him,  or  escort  him.  He  came  to 
St.  James's  palace  in  a  hired  carriage,  when  neither  king  nor  queen 
were  there  to  receive  him.'  " 

In  strains  far  different  the  newspapers  of  the  time  discourse  of 
the  young  king's  entertainment  and  demeanor.  They  expended 
daily,  columns  in  chronicling  his  movements,  and  expatiating  upon 
the  King  of  England's  splendid  and  bountiful  hospitality;  how  he 
maintained  the  table  of  his  guest  at  an  expense  of  seventy  pounds 
a  day,  and  assigned  to  his  use  the  ancient  plate  which  was  used 
only  at  coronation  banquets,  and  gave  great  feasts  in  his  honor.  If 
the  insipid  boy,  being  extremely  short-sighted,  did  not  linger  long 
amid  the  beauties  which  he  could  not  see,  he  showed  an  apprecia- 
tion of  what  was  really  excellent  in  England  by  inviting  to  dinner 
the  man  in  the  island  who  was  best  w^orth  dining  with.  He  accom- 
panied the  invitation  to  Dr.  Franklin  with  particular  expressions 
of  esteem.  A  few  days  after  entertaining  with  great  magnificence 
three  hundred  of  the  English  nobility,  he  arranged  a  snug  and 
enjoyable  dinner  party  of  sixteen ;  the  company  consisting  of  for- 
eign embassadors,  military  and  naval  officers,  two  or  three  eminent 
professional  men,  and  Dr.  Franklin.  Thus,  Franklin  would  jocu- 
larly say,  the  favorite  proverb  of  his  father  (that  diligent  men 
should  stand  before  Kings)  was  more  than  fulfilled;  since,  after 
having  stood  before  George  IL,  George  III.,  and  Louis  XV.,  he  had 
at  last  the  honor  to  sit  at  table  with  Christian  VII. 

It  was  not,  however,  with  kings  and  nobles  that  he  chiefly  asso- 
ciated. His  friends  were  men  of  science,  clergymen,  navigators, 
musicians,  authors,  and  liberal  members  of  parliament.  We  see 
him  strolling  into  the  House  of  Commons  with  Strahan,  a  member 
of  the  House,  who  had,  like  Franklin,  begun  life  as  a  journeyman 
printer.  He  attended  the  literary  assemblies  of  Mrs.  Montague, 
and  dined  with  Garrick.  He  comforted  the  exile  of  Benjamin 
West.  Horatio  Gates  and  the  erratic  General  Charles  Lee  were 
among  his  acquaintances.  Hawksworth  of  the  Adventurer,  and 
Stanley  the  composer,  were  his  valued  friends.  Burke,  Hume, 
Lord  Kames,  the  lawyers  John  Lee  and  John  Dunning,  Sir  John 
Pringle,  Dr.  Fothergill,  and  Dr.  Cannon,  remained  on  terms  of  in- 
timacy with  him.     Jeremy  Bentham,  whom  we  should   have  ex- 


540  LIFE   AKD   TIMES    OF   BEXJAMII^^  FEA-NTKLII^f.  [I113. 

pected  him  to  know,  had  not  yet  become  famous ;  he  was  but 
twenty-five  in  1Y73.  Dr.  Bowring  tells  us  that  there  was  a  stri- 
king personal  resemblance  between  Franklin  and  Benthara.  There 
were  other  points  of  similarity  between  them,  which  would  have 
made  intercourse  pleasant  and  beneficial  to  both.  They  never  con- 
versed together,  Bentham  records,  though  on  one  memorable 
occasion  they  stood  together  in  the  same  apartment.  Bentham 
said  once  to  his  biographer :  A  friend  "  took  a  quarto  copy  of  my 
Essay  on  Morals,  which  he  gave  to  Franldin ;  but  he  never  expend- 
ed any  observations  upon  it,  which  was  then  a  matter  of  consider- 
able regret  and  disappointment  to  me."  Elsewhere  Bentham  says : 
"  Poore  used  to  boast  to  me  that  he  had  made  Franklin  a  Platon- 
ist ;  and  he  boasted  loudly  of  the  feat.  I  told  him  he  had 
turned  a  wise  man  away  from  useful  pursuits,  to  pursuits  that  were 
of  no  use  at  all.  I  dare  say  Franklin  heard  him  very  quietly,  and 
was  not  moved  in  the  least."* 

For  dinner  parties  Franklin  was  in  such  demand,  that,  during  the 
London  season,  he  sometimes  dined  out  six  days  in  the  week  for 
several  weeks  together.  He  also  confesses  that,  occasionally  at 
these  entertainments,  he  drank  more  wine  than  became  a  philoso- 
pher. It  would,  indeed,  have  been  extremely  difficult  to  avoid  it, 
in  that  soaking  age,  when  a  man's  force  was  reckoned  by  the 
number  of  bottles  he  could  empty,  as  that  of  steam-engines  has 
since  been  estimated  by  the  number  of  horses  they  could  supply 
the  place  of 

It  was  the  palmy  day  of  clubs.  Every  tavern  and  cofiee-house 
had  its  club.  The  slightest  peculiarity  of  opinion,  pursuit,  fortune, 
or  even  of  personal  appearance,  gave  rise  to  clubs  of  persons  pro- 
fessing the  peculiarity.  There  was  the  Lying  Club,  the  Yorkshire, 
the  Bird  Fanciers,  the  Physicians,  the  Bankrupts,  the  Club  of 
Ugly  Faces,  the  Cellar  Club,  the  Beaux  Club,  the  Florists,  the 
Atheists,  the  Hell  Fire,  the  Thieves,  the  Dancing,  the  Kit-Kat,  the 
Beef  Steak,  and  as  many  others  as  there  were  taverns  and  coffee- 
houses for  clubs  to  meet  in.  The  leading  club  of  the  day,  per- 
haps, was  the  Royal  Society  Club,  of  which  Franklin  was  a  very 
frequent  visitor,  if  he  was  not  a  member.  His  own  club,  which 
was  composed  of  liberal  clergymen  and  men  of  science,  met  every 
Thursday  evening,  first  at  a  coffee-house  in  St.  Paul's  Churchyard, 

-  Bowring's  Bentham,  xi.,  78;  x.,  41,  8B. 


xVGED    67.]  franklin's   ENGLISH   FRIENDS.  541 

and,  afterwards,  at  the  London  Coifee-House  in  Ludgate  Hill. 
Dr.  Richard  Price,  Dr.  Priestley,  Dr.  Fothergill,  Peter  Collinson, 
Dr.  Hawksworth,  Stanley  the  composer,  were  all  members  or  fre- 
quenters of  this  body ;  the  weekly  meetings  of  which  Franklin 
keenly  enjoyed,  and  remembered  with  fondness  to  the  close  of  his 
life.  Nor  did  he  ever  forget  his  Philadelphia  Junto,  but  sent  fre- 
quent messages  of  affection  to  the  few  venerable  members  of  the  ori- 
ginal band  who  still  survived.  To  Hugh  Roberts  he  once  wrote :  "  I 
wish  you  would  continue  to  meet  the  Junto.  *  *  It  is  now  perhaps 
one  of  the  oldest  clubs,  as  I  think  it  was  formerly  one  of  the  best^  in 
the  King's  dominions.  *It  wants  but  about  two  years  of  forty  since  it 
was  established.  We  loved  and  still  love  one  another ;  we  are 
grown  gray  together,  and  yet  it  is  too  early  to  part.  Let  us  sit 
till  the  evening  of  life  is  spent.  The  last  hours  are  always 
the  most  joyous.  When  we  can  stay  no  longer,  it  is  time  enough 
then  to  bid  each  other  good  night,  separate,  and  go  quietly 
to  bed." 

He  might  well  value  the  Junto  above  the  more  modern  clubs. 
Heavy  eating  and  drinking  seem  to  have  been  the  chief  part  of  the 
entertainment  at  the  clubs  in  London.  The  philosophers  of  the 
Royal  Society  Club  consumed  the  most  stupendous  repasts.  We 
have  the  description  of  one  of  their  grand  dinners,  given  about  the 
middle  of  the  last  century  in  honor  of  the  election  to  the  society 
of  the  Elector  Palatine  : 

"  We  sat  down  at  five  o'clock.  The  dinner  was  truly  English, 
for  there  were  no  napkins.  Grace  was  said  by  the  Astronomer 
Maskelyne,  after  which  we  set  to.  The  dishes  consisted  of  huge 
joints  of  beef  and  mutton,  roasted  and  boiled,  and  abundant  sup- 
plies of  potatoes  and  other  vegetables,  which  each  person  seasoned 
as  he  pleased  with  the  different  sauces  on  the  table.  The  viands 
were  liberally  watered  with  great  potations  of  a  kind  of  strong 
beer,  called  porter,  drank  out  of  pewter  pots,  which  are  preferred 
to  glasses  because  they  hold  a  pint.  This  prelude  over,  the  cloth 
was  removed,  and  the  table  covered,  as  if  by  magic,  by  numerous 
crystal  decanters  filled  with  excellent  port,  Madeira,  and  claret. 
Several  wine-glasses  were  placed  before  each  guest,  and  drinking 
was  prosecuted  vigorously ;  the  desire  to  drink  being  encouraged  by 
various  descriptions  of  cheese  which  were  rolled  from  one  end  of 
the  table  to  the  other  in  mahogany  boxes  mounted  on  wheels. 


542  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   EENJAMIK   FRANKLIN.  [l773. 

Toasts  were  now  given,  the  first  being  for  the  health  of  the  Royal 
Family,  then  that  of  the  Elector  Palatine  and  the  visitors,  and  finally 
every  member  of  the  club  drank  the  health  of  his  brother  mem- 
bers, one  by  one;  for  it  would  be  considered  a  great  want  of 
politeness  in  England  to  drink  the  health  of  more  than  one  per- 
son at  a  time.  When  this  formality  terminated,  champagne  was 
introduced,  which  had  the  efiect  of  putting  every  one  in  good 
humor.  Tea  followed  the  champagne,  served  with  bread  and  but- 
ter and  toast,  and  this  was  succeeded  by  coffee,  which  was  very 
inferior  to  the  tea.  In  France  it  is  the  custom  to  drink  only  one 
cup  of  excellent  coffee;  the  English  drank  five  or  six  cups  of  a  vile 
decoction  which  they  call  coffee.  Brandy,  rum,  and  other  spiritu- 
ous liquors  wound  up  this  philosophical  banquet,  which  terminated 
at  half-past  seven.  We  then  went  to  a  meeting  of  the  Royal 
Society,  everybody  being  very  gay,  yet  not  uproarious."* 

At  many  such  banquets  Franklin,  doubtless,  assisted.  The  or- 
dinary dinners,  however,  were  less  sumptuous  than  this.  But  as 
every  gentleman  who  complimented  the  Society  with  an  annual 
haunch  of  venison,  or  its  equivalent  in  beef  or  turtle,  was  regarded 
as  an  honorary  member,  we  may  infer  that  the  jolly  philosophers 
were  often  regaled  with  noble  viands.  These  are  exti-acts  from  the 
records  of  the  club  in  Franklin's  time  :  "  The  Society  being  this 
day  entertained  with  halfe  a  bucke  by  the  Most  Hon.  the  Marquis 
of  Rockingham,  it  was  agreed  nem.  con.  to  drink  his  health  in 
claret." — "  On  the  4th  October,  Andrew  Mitchell  proposes  to  compli- 
ment the  club  with  a  fine  turtle  which  he  expects  very  soon  from  the 
West  Indies." — "Andrew  Mitchell,  Esq.'s  turtle  happening  to  die 
as  the  ship  came  up  channel,  the  company  dined  on  ordinary  fare." 
— "  The  company  were  this  day  forced  to  dine  in  a  room  differ- 
ent from  what  they  used  to  dine  in,  by  a  turtle  being  dressed 
in  the  house  which  weighed  400  lbs." — "  William  Hanbury,  Esq., 
having  this  day  entertained  the  company  with  a  chine  of  beef, 
which  was  34  inches  in  length,  and  weighed  upwards  of  140  lbs., 
it  was  agreed  nem.  con.  that  two  such  chines  were  equal  to  halfe  a 
bucke  or  a  turtle,  and  entituled  the  donor  to  be  an  honorary  mem- 
ber of  this  Society." 

Mr.  Weld's  History  of  the  Royal  Society  contains  some  interest- 

*  Quotod  from  M.  Fanjas  de  St.  Fond  in  Admiral  Smyth's  History  of  the  Royal  Society  Club. 


AGED   67.]  FKANKLIN's   ENGLISH   FRIENDS.  543 

ing  notices  of  Dr.  Franklin.  "  At  the  time  of  his  election,"  says 
that  author,  "  he  was  in  America,  which  prevented  him  signing  the 
charter  book  within  the  required  time  ;  but  the  council,  fully  aware 
of  his  brilliant  talents,  unanimously  resolved,  on  motion  of  Mr. 
William  Watson,  that '  the  name  of  Benjamin  Franklin,  who  has  de- 
served so  highly  of  the  Society,  and  whose  affairs  oblige  him  to  re- 
side in  Philadelphia,  be  inserted  in  the  lists  before  his  admission, 
and  without  any  fee,  or  other  payment  to  the  Society ;  and  that 
such  name  be  continued  in  the  lists  so  long  as  he  shall  continue  to 
reside  abroad.'  "* 

Franklin's  certificate  runs  thus :  "  Benjamin  Franklin,  Esq.,  of 
Philadelphia,  a  gentleman  who  has  very  eminently  distinguished 
himself  by  various  discoveries  in  natural  philosophy,  and  who  first 
suggested  the  experiments  to  prove  the  analogy  between  lightning 
and  electricity,  being  desirous  of  being  elected  a  Fellow  of  the 
Royal  Society,  is  recommended  by  us,  in  consideration  of  his  great 
merit,  and  of  his  many  communications,  as  highly  deserving  the 
honor  he  desires.''f 

Mr.  Weld  preserves  a  letter  of  Dr.  Franklin,  not  contained  in 
any  collection  of  his  works,  which  carries  us  into  the  council  room 
of  the  Society,  and  shows  Franklin  taking  a  friendly  part  in  pro- 
curing for  Dr.  Priestley  the  honor  of  the  Copley  medal.  It  was 
addressed  to  Mr.  Canton,  the  electrician  : 

"  After  the  Society  was  gone,  my  Lord  Morton  said  (when  I 
offered  him  the  paper)  that  it  ought  to  have  been  delivered  before 
and  read  to  the  Society  ;  he,  however,  desired  me  to  produce  it  to 
the  council.  Then  the  reading  of  it  was  opposed,  as  not  being  re- 
ferred to  them  by  the  Society.  But  this  was  at  last  got  over,  by 
Dr.  Morton's  proposing  that  the  giving  a  medal  to  Dr.  Priestley 
should  be  taken  into  consideration,  and  that  in  order  to  judge  the 
better  of  the  propriety  of  that  proposal,  the  paper  should  be  read. 
It  was  accordingly  read.  I  was  then  desired,  as  the  best  judge 
present,  to  give  my  opinion  of  the  merit  of  the  experiments  as  to 
the  medal,  which  I  did  in  plain  terms,  declaring  it  as  my  judg- 
ment that  the  great  pains  and  expense  the  doctor  had  been  at  in 
making  them,  and  the  importance  of  the  experiments  themselves, 
well  deserved  that  encouragement  from  the  Society ;  and  that  it 

*  Weld's  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  ii.,  8.        t  Id.,  ibid. 


644  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1773. 

was  a  mark  of  distinction  justly  due  to  so  much  philosophical 
industry  and  sagacity. 

"  One  that  sat  near  me  told  me  he  was  surprised'at  the  account 
I  had  given,  as  he  had  been  assured  the  Medal  was  intended  to  be 
bestowed  on  the  Doctor  for  writing  a  history,  which  was  thought 
wrong,  but  it  now  appeared  he  had  made  many  valuable  experi- 
ments. Then  a  question  arose,  how  far  it  was  proper  to  give  a 
Medal  for  experiments  that  had  not  been  sent  to  the  Society  till 
they  were  published ;  and  this  occasioned  a  search  for  Sir  Godfrey 
Copley's  Will,  which  could  not  be  found ;  but  an  agreement  was  found 
recorded  beween  the  Society  and  his  executors,  that  the  £5  should 
be  given  for  the  best  experiment  within  the  year,  proposed  and 
directed  to  be  made  by  the  Society,  and  made  in  their  presence. 
This  not  having  been  the  practice  of  late  years,  it  began  to  be 
whispered  that  most  of  the  Medals  had  been  irregularly  giv^en.  A 
subsequent  resolution  was,  however,  found,  to  print  the  clause  of 
Sir  Godfrey  Copley's  Will  in  every  number  of  Transactions,  for  the 
encouragement  of  foreigners  to  endeavor  obtaining  the  reward,  as 
there  was  reason  to  fear  a  failure  of  experiments  upon  the  former 
j)lan.  By  this  time  it  grew  late,  and  it  was  concluded  that  the 
books  should  be  searched  to  find  all  the  steps  that  had  been  taken 
in  disposing  of  this  prize,  whether  in  money  or  in  medals,  from  the 
first  instance  in  1717  to  the  last;  with  the  reasons  and  grounds  on 
which  the  Council  had  proceeded,  and  that  a  copy  of  this  part  of 
Sir  Godfrey  Copley's  Will  should  be  obtained  from  the  Commons, 
when,  at  the  next  council,  the  matter  might  be  reconsidered,  and 
the  Medal  then  given  to  Dr.  Priestley,  if  the  Council  thought  fit,  and 
it  should  be  found  not  contrary  to  the  Will  so  to  do.  Thus  the 
business  ended  for  that  time ;  and  how  it  will  conclude  at  last  seems 
an  uncertainty,  for  I  think  some  persons  are  busy  in  an  opposition 
to  the  measure.  But  I  hope  it  will  end  in  favor  of  merit,  in  which 
case  I  think  our  friend  cannot  miss  it."* 

Dr.  Priestley  obtained  the  medal. 

Mr.  Jefferson  has  preserved  a  club  anecdote  which  Franklin  re- 
lated to  him  as  they  sat  side  by  side  in  the  old  Congress,  when  it 
was  proposed  to  permit  the  importation  of  medical  books.  "  When 
I  was  in  London,"  said  Franklin,  "there  was  a  weekly  club  of 

♦  Weld's  History  of  the  Royal  Society,  U.,  67. 


AGED    67.]  franklin's   ENGLISH   FRIENDS.  645 

physicians,  of  which  Sir  John  Pringle  was  President,  and  I  was  in- 
vited by  my  friend,  Dr.  Fothergill,  to  attend  when  convenient.  I 
happened  to  be  there  when  the  question  to  be  considered  was 
whether  physicians  had,  on  the  whole,  done  most  good  or  harm  ? 
The  young  members,  particularly,  having  discussed  it  very  learn- 
edly and  eloquently  till  the  subject  was  exhausted,  one  of  them  ob- 
served to  Sh*  John  Pringle,  that  although  it  was  not  usual  for  the 
President  to  take  part  in  a  debate,  yet  they  were  desirous  to  know 
his  opinion  on  the  question.  He  said,  they  must  first  tell  him 
whether,  under  the  appellation  of  physicians,  they  meant  to  include 
old  women  ;  if  they  did,  he  thought  they  had  done  more  good  than 
harm ;  otherwise,  more  harm  than  good."* 

We  have  before  remarked  that  there  was  no  class  of  persons  with 
whom  Dr.  Franklin  more  easily  glided  into  intimacy,  than  liberally- 
minded  clergymen.  However  he  may  have  differed  from  such  men 
in  matters  of  opinion,  he  was  in  moral  accord  with  them,  and  felt 
peculiarly  at  home  in  their  society.  Three  clergymen,  at  this  time, 
were  his  frequent  associates,  who  remained  his  warm  friends  to  the 
end  of  their  lives.  One  was  Dr.  Richard  Price,  a  clergyman  of 
Welsh  extraction,  the  pastor  of  a  Unitarian  church  in  London,  a 
warm  advocate  of  the  Americans.  "  For  a  truly  Christian  spirit," 
says  Dr.  Priestley,  "  dishiterested  patriotism,  and  true  candor,  no 
man,  in  my  opinion,  ever  exceeded  Dr.  Price,"  a  character  which 
his  reputation  and  his  writings  confirm.  He  afterwards  wrote 
powerfully  and  boldly  in  defense  of  the  colonies,  and  opposed  the 
hostile  measures  of  Lord  North's  administration  dowm  to  the  very 
end  of  the  revolution.  He  had  the  reward,  first,  of  the  unanimous 
applause  of  Congress,  and,  afterwards,  of  seeing  in  a  pew  of  his  little 
chapel,  Sunday  after  Sunday,  John  Adams,  the  first  minister  of  the 
United  States  to  the  court  of  St.  James,  accompanied  by  his  wife, 
whose  admirable  letters  record  the  fact.  He  never  ceased  to  cor- 
respond with  Dr.  Franklin,  until  death  removed  one  of  them  from 
the  sublunary  scene. 

Dr.  Joseph  Priestley,  the  librarian  of  Lord  Shelburne,  an  office 
which  gave  him  leisure,  and  some  months  of  every  year  in  London, 
was  much  with  Dr.  Franklin  at  this  time.  He  was  still  a  diligent 
experimenter  and  observer  in  natural  science,  preaching  occasion- 

*  Works  of  Jeiferson,  viii.,  501. 


546  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN  FBANKLIN.  [1773. 

ally  as  opportunity  offered.  With  Priestley,  it  appears,  Dr.  Franklin 
had  frequent  conversations  upon  theological  subjects.  They  did 
not  agree  in  opinion.  Dr.  Priestley  says,  in  his  Autobiography : 
"  It  is  much  to  be  lamented,  that  a  man  of  Dr.  Franklin's  general 
good  character  and  great  influence  should  have  been  an  unbeliever 
in  Christianity,  and  also  have  done  so  much  as  he  did  to  make 
others  unbelievers.  To  me,  however,  he  acknowledged  that  he  had 
not  given  so  much  attention  as  he  ought  to  have  done  to  the  evi- 
dences of  Christianity,  and  he  desired  me  to  recommend  to  him  a 
few  treatises  on  the  subject,  such  as  I  thought  most  deserving  of  his 
notice,  but  not  of  great  length,  promising  to  read  them,  and  give 
me  his  sentiments  on  them.  Accordingly,  I  recommended  to  him 
Hartley's  Evidences  of  Christianity  in  his  Observations  on  Man, 
and  what  I  had  then  written  on  the  subject  in  my  Institutes  of 
Natural  and  Revealed  Religion.  But  the  American  war  breaking 
out,"  he  does  not  think  Franklin  ever  read  them. 

I  do  not  understand  what  Dr.  Priestley  meant  by  saying  that 
Franklin  was  an  unbeliever  in  Christianity,  since  he  himself  was 
open  to  the  same  charge  from  nine-tenths  of  the  inhabitants  of 
Christendom.  Upon  looking  into  the  works  of  this  eminent  man. 
I  find  that  he  rejected  the  doctrines  of  the  Trinity,  the  Atonement, 
Original  Sin,  and  Miraculous  Inspiration.  He  regarded  Jesus 
Christ  as  "  a  mere  man,"  but  divinely  commissioned  and  divinely 
assisted ;  and  though  the  books  composing  the  Bible,  he  thought, 
were  neither  inspired,  nor  infallible,  nor  correct,  and  were  to  be 
judged  and  criticised  as  other  writings  are,  yet  they  were  correct 
in  the  main,  and  were  extremely  valuable  as  a  record  of  events 
the  most  instructive  and  sublime.  For  a  man  holding  these 
opinions  to  call  Dr.  Franklin  an  unbeliever  in  Christianity,  re- 
sembles the  oft-cited  case  of  one  culinary  vessel  descanting  upon 
the  sooty  hue  of  another.  Perhaps,  if  the  two  men  were  now 
alive,  we  might  express  the  theological  difference  between  them  by 
saying  that  Priestley  was  a  Unitarian  of  the  Channing  school,  and 
Franklin  of  that  of  Theodore  Parker. 

Dr.  Priestley  further  says :  "  In  Paris,  in  1774,  all  the  philosophical 
persons  to  whom  I  was  introduced  were  unbelievers  in  Christianity, 
and  even  professed  atheists."  *  *  *  « I  ^^s  told  by  some 
of  them  that  I  was  the  only  person  they  had  ever  met,  of  whose 
understanding  they  had  any  opinion,  who  professed  to  believe  in 


AGED    67.]  FEANKLIN'S   ENGLISH   FRIENDS.  647 

Christianity."      *  *       tc  g^^  j  ^qq^  found  they  did  not  really 

know  what  Christianity  was.  This  was  also  the  case  with  a  great 
part  of  the  company  that  I  saw  at  Lord  Shelburne's."  All  of  which 
is  probable  enough.  Burke,  the  only  able  man  of  the  opposition, 
who,  in  the  orthodox  sense  of  the  word,  could  be  called  a  believer, 
was  not  of  the  Shelburne  faction,  but  of  the  Rockingham. 

It  was  to  Dr.  Priestley  that  Franklin  imparted  the  well-known 
expedient  which  he  called  moral  or  prudential  algebra.  Priestley 
asked  him  in  one  of  his  letters  how  he  contrived  to  make  up  his 
mind,  when  strong  and  numerous  arguments  presented  themselves 
for  both  of  two  proposed  lines  of  conduct  ?  "  My  way  is,"  replied 
Franklin,  "to  divide  half  a  sheet  of  paper  by  a  line  into  two  col- 
umns ;  writing  over  the  one  pro,  and  over  the  other  co7i ;  then 
during  three  or  four  days'  consideration,  I  put  down  under  the  dif- 
ferent heads  short  hints  of  the  different  motives  that  at  different 
times  oocur  to  me,  for  or  against  the  measure.  When  I  have  thus 
got  them  all  together  in  one  view,  I  endeavor  to  estimate  their  re- 
spective weights ;  and,  where  I  find  two  (one  on  each  side)  that  seem 
equal,  I  strike  them  both  out.  If  I  find  a  reason  pro  equal  to  some 
tiGO  reasons  con,  I  strike  out  the  three.  If  I  judge  some  two  reasons 
con  equal  to  some  three  reasons  ji^ro,  I  strike  out  thej^vey  and  thus 
jDroceeding,  I  find  at  length  where  the  balance  lies  ;  and  if,  after  a 
day  or  two  of  farther  consideration,  nothing  new  that  is  of  impor- 
tance occurs  on  either  side,  I  come  to  a  determination  accordingly." 
He  added  that  he  had  derived  great  help  from  equations  of  this 
kind ;  which,  at  least,  rendered  him  less  liable  to  take  rash  steps. 

An  anecdote  has  been  related  of  Franklin  and  Priestley.  They 
were  chatting  one  evening  at  the  Royal  Society  Club,  when  the 
question  arose  what  was  the  most  desirable  invention  that  remain- 
ed to  be  made.  The  spinning  of  two  threads  at  the  same  time, 
was  Franklin's  answer.  To  Dr.  Priestley  and  the  other  members 
present  the  idea  was  new  and  striking ;  but  several  years  before 
Franklin  left  London,  the  desired  invention  was  completed,  and 
forty  threads  were  spun  by  the  same  motion ;  a  number  since  greatly 
increased.  Whether  Franklin  had  conversed  on  the  subject  with 
Hargraves,  the  carpenter,  who  invented  the  spinning  jenny  in  1767, 
or  with  Arkwright,  the  barber,  who  invented  the  spinning  frame 
in  1768,  and  opened  his  horse-power  spinning  mill  in  17G9,  is  not 
known.     Franklin's  remark  was  eminently  wise.     By  the  invention 


548  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [1773.^ 

which  he  named,  the  laborers  of  all  the  world  have  been  since 
clothed  with  decency  and  comfort ;  and  all  but  the  very  poorest 
provided  with  a  suit  of  cloth  and  a  clean  shirt  for  Sundays  ;  luxu- 
ries of  which  they  did  not  dream  a  hundred  years  ago. 

Another  clergyman  became  extremely  dear  to  Franklin  during 
the  later  years  of  his  stay  in  London,  Dr.  Jonathan  Shipley,  Bish- 
op of  St.  Asaphs  ;  at  whose  country  house  in  Hampshire  he  spent 
some  delightful  days  or  weeks  of  several  successive  summers. 
Forever  honored  be  the  name  of  this  wiss,  benevolent,  and  fearless 
prelate ;  chief  among  the  very  few  of  his  Order,  who  were  men 
and  citizens  more  than  they  were  priests  ;  who,  when  the  door  of 
advancement  was  slammed  in  the  face  of  clergymen  that  Avere  not 
zealous  for  the  king's  measures,  remained  faithful  to  justice  and 
freedom  !  Whoever  may  have  faltered  in  the  support  of  the  king's 
American  policy,  the  bench  of  bishops  never  did,  and  the  lower 
clergy,  generally,  followed  the  example  of  their  leaders.  Even 
John  Wesley,  who  had  no  episcopal  ambition,  publicly  exhorted 
the  colonists  in  1775  to  submit  to  the  lawless  and  arrogant  exac- 
tions of  the  government.*     Not  so  the  bishop  of  St.  Asaphs.    He 

*  A  sermon  to  this  effect  is  printed  in  Wesley''s  works.  It  now  appears,  however,  that  Wes- 
ley, in  a  private  letter  to  Lord  North,  dated  June  15th,  1775,  argued  warmly  and  at  great  length 
against  the  ministerial  policy.  "My  prejudices,"  he  wrote,  "are  against  the  Americans;  for  I 
am  a  High  Churchman,  the  son  of  a  High  Churchman,  bred  up  from  my  childhood  in  the  high- 
est notions  of  passive  obedience  and  non-resistance :  and  yet,  in  spite  of  all  my  long-rooted 
prejudices,  I  cannot  avoid  thinking,  if  I  think  at  all,  these,  an  oppressed  people,  asked  for  noth- 
ing more  than  their  legal  rights,  and  that  in  the  most  modest  and  inoffensive  manner  that  the 
nature  of  the  thing  would  allow.  But  waiving  this,  waiving  all  considerations  of  right  and  wrong, 
I  ask,  is  it  common  sense  to  use  force  toward  the  Americans  ?  A  letter  now  before  me,  which  I 
received  yesterday,  says,  'Four  hundred  of  the  regulars  and  forty  of  the  militia  were  killed  in 
the  late  skirmish.'  What  a  disproportion  is  this !  And  this  is  the  first  essay  of  raw  men 
against  regular  troops.  You  see,  my  lord,  whatever  has  been  affirmed,  these  men  Avill  not  be 
frightened;  and  it  seems  they  will  not  be  conquered  so  easily  as  was  at  first  imagined.  They 
will  probably  dispute  every  inch  of  ground,  and  if  they  die,  di'e  sword  in  hand.  Indeed,  some  of 
our  valiant  officers  say,  '  two  thousand  men  will  clear  America  of  these  rebels.'  No,  nor  twen- 
ty thousand,  be  they  rebels  or  not,  nor  perhaps  treble  that  number.  They  are  as  strong  men  as 
you;  they  are  as  valiant  as  you,  if  not  abundantly  more  valiant,  for  they  are  one,  and  all  enthu- 
siasts— enthusiasts  for  liberty.  They  are  calm,  deliberate  enthusiasts;  and  we  know  how  this 
principle  breathes  into  softer  souls  stern  love  of  war,  and  thirst  of  vengeance,  and  contempt  of 
death.  We  know  men,  animated  with  this  spirit,  will  leap  into  a  fire,  or  rush  into  a  cannon's 
mouth. 

"' But  they  have  no  experience  in  war.'  And  how  much  more  have  our  troops?  Very  few 
of  them  ever  saw  a  battle.  '  But  they  have  no  discipline.'  That  is  an  entire  mistake.  Al- 
ready they  have  near  as  much  as  our  array,  r,nd  they  will  learn  more  of  it  every  day  ;  so  that  in 
a  short  time,  if  the  fatal  occasion  continue,  they  will  understand  it  as  well  as  their  assailants. 
'But they  are  divided  amongst  themselves.'  So  you  are  informed  by  various  letters  and  me- 
morials.   So,  doubt  not,  was  poor  Kehoboam  informed  conceding  the  ton  tribes.     So,  nearer 


AGED    67.]  franklin's    ENGLISH    FRIENDS.  649 

exerted  his  talents,  both  in  the  House  of  Lords  and  in  the  pulpit, 
to  restore  the  good  feeling  that  formerly  bound  together  the  colo- 
nies and  the  mother  country.  His  well-known  sermon  on  this  sub- 
ject, preached  in  May,  1773,  before  the  Society  for  the  Propagation 
of  the  Gospel  in  Foreign  Parts,  I  find  advertised  for  sale  in  the 
newspapers  of  New  York,  Philadelphia,  and  Boston,  of  that  year, 
with  many  extracts  and  encomiums.  One  passage  had  great  cur- 
rency, in  which  he  called  on  the  wise  and  good  of  both  countries 
to  cease  prying,  with  unfriendly  curiosity,  into  the  minute  par- 
ticulars of  past  controversies,  and  strive  to  restore  that  "  old  public 
friendship  and  confidence  which  made  us  great,  happy,  and  vic- 
torious." 

"  To  countries  so  closely  united,"  said  the  bishop,  "  it  is  needless, 
and  even  dangerous,  to  have  recourse  to  the  interpretation  of  char- 
ters and  written  laws.  Such  discussions  excite  jealousy,  and  inti- 
mate an  unfriendly  disposition.  It  is  common  utility,  mutual  wants, 
and  mutual  services,  that  should  point  out  the  true  line  of  submis- 
sion and  authority.  *  *  *  During  all  our  happy  days  of  concord, 
partly  from  our  national  moderation,  and  partly  from  the  wisdom, 
and  sometimes,  perhaps,  from  the  carelessness  of  our  ministers,  the 
colonies  have  been  trusted,  in  a  good  measure,  with  the  entire 
management  of  their  affairs ;  and  the  success  they  have  met  with 
ought  to  be  to  us  an  ever  memorable  proof  that  the  true  art  of 
government  consists  in  not  governing  too  much." 

There  was  so  much  of  Franklin  in  this  sermon,  that  many  of 
Franklin's  friends  thought  he  had  written  it ;  an  imputation  which 
he  always  denied,  though  admitting  that  his  frequent  conversa- 
tions with  the  bishop  miglit  have  influenced  the  composition  of 
some  passages.  "  Sir  John  Pringle,"  wrote  Franklin  to  his  son, 
"  says  it  was  written  in  compliment  to  me.  But,  from  the  intimacy 
of  friendship  in  which  I  live  with  the  author,  I  know  he  has  ex- 
pressed nothing  but  w^hat  he  thinks  and  feels  ;  and  I  honor  him  the 


our  own  times,  was  Philip  informed  concerning  the  people  of  the  Netherlands.  No,  my  lord, 
they  are  terribly  united.  Not  in  the  province  of  New  England  only,  but  down  as  low  as  the 
Jerseys  and  Pennsylvania.  The  bulk  of  the  people  are  so  united  that  to  speak  a  word  in  favor 
of  the  present  English  measures  would  almost  endanger  a  man's  life.  Those  who  informed  me 
of  this,  one  of  whom  was  with  me  last  week,  lately  come  from  Philadelphia,  are  no  syrjophants  ; 
they  say  nothing  to  curry  favor ;  they  have  nothing  to  gain  or  lose  by  me.  But  they  speak  with 
sorrow  of  heart  what  they  have  seen  with  their  own  eyes,  and  heard  with  their  own  oars." — i}.  Y. 
Historical  Magamne^  July.  1868. 


550  LIFE   AXD   TIMES    OP    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [lV73. 

more,  that,  through  the  mere  hope  of  doing  good,  he  has  hazarded 
the  displeasure  of  the  court,  and  of  course  the  prospect  of  further 
preferment." 

Nevertheless,  during  the  short  existence  of  the  Coalition  ministry 
in  1783,  Dr.  Shipley  had  a  narrow  escape  from  being  made  Arch- 
bishop of  Canterbury.  Fox  meant  that  preferment  for  him ;  but 
the  king,  aware  of  the  intention  of  his  abhorred  cabinet,  pro- 
ceeded, with  indecent  haste,  and  without  consulting  one  of  the 
ministers,  to  fill  the  vacancy  with  a  bishop  of  other  politics.* 

To  the  amiable  family  of  Dr.  Shipley  Franklin  was  a  most  wel- 
come guest.  A  scene  at  the  bishop's  table,  which  Franklin  related 
to  his  wife  in  1771,  shows  the  terms  upon  which  they  lived  to- 
gether. It  occurred  at  the  end  of  a  three  weeks'  visit.  "The 
bishop's  lady,"  he  wrote,  "knows  what  children  and  grandchildren 
I  have,  and  their  ages ;  so,  when  I  was  to  come  away  on  Monday 
in  the  morning,  she  insisted  on  ray  staying  that  one  day  longer, 
that  we  might  keep  together  my  grandson's  birthday.  At  dinner, 
among  other  nice  things,  we  had  a  floating  island,  which  they  always 
particularly  have  on  the  birthdays  of  any  of  their  own  six  children, 
who  were  all  but  one  at  table,  where  there  was  also  a  clergyman's 
widow,  now  above  one  hundred  years  old.  The  chief  toast  of  the 
day  was,  Master  Benjamin  Bache,  which  the  venerable  old  lady  be- 
gan in  a  bumper  of  mountain.  The  bishop's  lady  politely  added, 
'and  that  he  may  be  as  good  a  man  as  his  grandfother.'  I  said  I 
hoped  he  would  be  much  better.  The  bishop,  still  more  complais- 
ant than  his  lady,  said,  '  We  will  compound  the  matter,  and  be 
contented  if  he  should  not  prove  quite  so  goocV  This  chitchat  is  to 
yourself  only,  in  return  for  some  of  yours  about  your  grandson, 
and  must  only  be  read  to  Sally,  and  not  spoken  of  to  anybody  else ; 
for  you  know  how  people  add  and  alter  silly  stories  that  they  hear, 
and  make  them  appear  ten  times  more  silly." 

The  squirrel  letter  which  Franklin  wrote  to  one  of  the  bishop's 
daughters  is  familiar  to  many  readers.  He  had  given  the  young- 
lady  a  squirrel ;  one  of  a  number  which  he  had  imported  from 
America  for  distribution  among  his  young  friends  in  England. 
This  letter,  which  he  wrote  upon  learning  the  tragic  fate  of  the  lit- 
tle animal,  contained  an  epitaph  for  its  tombstone : 

*  Wraxall's  Memoirs. 


AGED    67.]  FKANKXIN's   ENGLISH    FRIENDS.  651 

Alas !  poor  Mungo  ! 

Happy  wert  thon,  haclst  thou  known 

Thy  own  felicity. 

Remote  from  the  fierce  bald  eagle, 

Tyrant  of  thy  native  woods, 

Thou  hadst  nought  to  fear  from  his  piercing  talons, 

Nor  from  the  murdering  gun 

Of  the  thoughtless  sportsman. 

Safe  in  thy  weird  castle, 

Grimalkin  never  could  annoy  thee. 

Daily  wert  thou  fed  with  the  choicest  viands, 

By  the  fair  hand  of  an  indulgent  mistress  ; 

But,  discontented. 

Thou  wouldst  have  more  freedom. 

Too  soon,  alas !  didst  thou  obtain  it ; 

And  wandering, 

Thou  art  fallen  by  the  fangs  of  wanton,  cruel  Ranges  ! 

Learn  hence. 

Ye  who  blindly  seek  more  liberty, 

Whether  subjects,  sons,  squirrels,  or  daughters, 

That  apparent  restraint  may  be  real  protection, 

Yielding  peace  and  plenty 

With  security. 

The  monumental  style,  he  observed,  being  "  neither  prose  nor 
verse,  is  perhaps  the  properest  for  grief;  since  to  use  common 
language  would  look  as  if  Ave  were  not  affected,  and  to  make 
rhymes  would  seem  trifling  in  sorrow." 

No  one  has  written  such  good  familiar  letters  as  Dr.  Franklin. 
So  much  humor,  wit,  burlesque,  sense,  elegance,  and  information, 
cannot  be  found  together  in  the  unstudied  compositions  of  any 
other  man.  Some  of  his  most  celebrated  passages,  often  published 
as  complete  essays,  are  taken  from  his  letters ;  the  Whistle  story, 
for  example.  Moral  Algebra,  and  many  others.  He  wrote,  at  this 
time,  a  considerable  number  of  short,  humorous  pieces  for  the 
amusement  of  his  friends,  one  of  which,  "  The  Craven  Street  Ga- 
zette," is  a  burlesque  of  newspapers,  which  has  given  rise,  not  to 
imitations  merely,  but  to  a  school  of  imitations.  Yet  it  was  writ- 
ten only  for  the  entertainment  of  his  family  in  Craven  Street 


552  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1773. 

Humor  was  his  forte,  his  element,  his  armor,  his  weapon,  his  so- 
lace. When  most  himself  he  was  most  abounding  in  humor,  and 
the  older  he  grew  the  more  frolicsome  his  pen  became.  Some  of 
his  very  gayest,  brightest,  sprightliest  effusions  were  written  after 
he  was  seventy-five.  Let  us  add,  also,  that  he  never  wrote  his  best 
except  when  he  was  writing  to  a  lady.  A  woman  whose  under- 
standing he  could  trust,  received  from  him  the  most  sparkling  and 
elegant  wit,  as  well  as  the  soundest  lessons  of  morality  and  wisdom. 

In  the  Garrick  Correspondence  is  a  letter  from  Franklin  to  the 
pi'inter  of  the  >S'^.  Jainei  Chronicle^  defending  the  new  tragedy  of 
the  Earl  of  Warwick  against  the  attack  of  a  critic.  Tlie  tragedy, 
he  says,  *'  though  not  without  faults,  is  generally  allowed  to  be  the 
best  written  tragedy  which  has  appeared  for  some  years.  I  have 
twice  seen  it  already  with  great  pleasure,  and  when  it  is  acted  next, 
shall  certainly  again  pay  my  respects  to  the  inimitable  Mrs.  Yates, 
who  is,  without  doubt,  and  above  all  in  Margaret  of  Anjou,  the 
finest  actress  now  in  Europe."* 

He  continued  his  practice  of  spending  a  part  of  every  summer  in 
traveling.  We  have  already  alluded  to  his  first  visit  to  Paris  in 
1767,  accompanied  by  Sir  John  Pringle.  To  Miss  Stevenson  he 
transmitted  from  the  gay  capital  an  entertaining  account  of  his  ad- 
ventures : 

"  All  the  way  to  Dover,"  he  wrote,  "  we  were  furnished  with 
post-chaises,  hung  so  as  to  lean  forward,  the  top  coming  down  over 
one's  eyes,  like  a  hoop,  as  if  to  prevent  one's  seeing  the  country ; 
which  being  one  of  my  great  pleasures,  I  was  engaged  in  perpetual 
disputes  with  the  innkeepers,  ostlers,  and  postillions,  about  getting 
the  straps  taken  up  a  hole  or  two  before,  and  let  down  as  much  be- 
hind, they  insisting  that  the  chaise  leaning  forward  was  an  ease  to 
the  horses,  and  that  the  contrary  would  kill  them.  I  suppose  the 
chaise  leaning  forward  looks  to  them  like  a  willingness  to  go  for- 
ward, and  that  its  hanging  back  shows  reluctance.  They  added 
other  reasons,  that  were  no  reasons  at  all,  and  made  me,  as  upon  a 
hundred  other  occasions,  almost  wish  that  mankind  had  never  been 
endowed  with  a  reasoning  faculty,  since  they  know  so  little  how  to 
make  use  of  it,  and  so  often  mislead  themselves  by  it,  and  that  they 
bad  been  furnished  with  a  good  sensible  instinct  instead  of  it. 

*  Garrick  Correspondence,  i.,  218, 


AGED    67.]  franklin's    ENGLISH   FRIENDS.  563 

"  At  Dover,  the  next  morning,  we  embarked  for  Calais  with  a 
number  of  passengers,  who  had  never  before  been  at  sea.  They 
would  previously  make  a  hearty  breakfast,  because,  if  the  wind 
should  fail,  we  might  not  get  over  till  supper  time.  Doubtless  they 
thought,  that  when  they  had  paid  for  their  breakfast,  they  had  a 
right  to  it,  and  that  when  they  had  swallowed  it,  they  were  sure 
of  it.  But  they  had  scarce  been  out  half  an  hour,  before  the  sea 
laid  claim  to  it,  and  they  were  obliged  to  deliver  it  up.  So  that  it 
seems  there  are  uncertainties,  even  beyond  those  between  the  cup 
and  the  lip.  If  ever  you  go  to  sea,  take  my  advice,  and  live  spar- 
ingly a  day  or  two  beforehand.  The  sickness,  if  any,  will  be  lighter 
and  sooner  over.     We  got  to  Calais  that  evening. 

"  Various  impositions  we  suffered  from  boatmen,  porters,  and  the 
like,  on  both  sides  the  water.  I  know  not  which  are  most  rapa- 
cious, the  English  or  French,  but  the  latter  have,  with  their  kna- 
very, most  politeness. 

"  The  roads  we  found  equally  good  with  ours  in  England,  in 
some  places  paved  with  smooth  stones,  like  our  new  streets,  for 
many  miles  together,  and  rows  of  trees  on  each  side,  and  yet  there 
are  no  turnpikes.  But  then  the  poor  peasants  complained  to  us 
grievously,  that  they  were  obliged  to  work  upon  the  roads  full  two 
months  in  the  year,  without  being  paid  for  their  labor.  Whether 
this  is  truth,  or  whether,  like  Englishmen,  they  grumble,  cause  or 
no  cause,  I  have  not  yet  been  able  fully  to  inform  myself. 

"  The  women  we  saw  at  Calais,  on  the  road,  at  Boulogne,  and  in 
the  inns  and  villages,  were  generally  of  dark  complexions  ;  but  ar- 
riving at  Abbeville  we  found  a  sudden  change,  a  multitude  of  both 
women  and  men  in  that  place  appearing  remarkably  fair.  Whether 
this  is  owing  to  a  small  colony  of  spinners,  wool  combers,  and 
weavers,  brought  hither  from  Holland  with  the  woolen  manufactory 
about  sixty  years  ago,  or  to  their  being  less  exposed  to  the  sun 
than  in  other  places,  their  business  keeping  them  much  within  doors, 
I  know  not.  Perhaps,  as  in  some  other  cases,  different  causes  may 
club  in  producing  the  effect,  but  the  effect  itself  is  certain.  Never 
was  I  in  a  place  of  greater  industry,  wheels  and  looms  going  in 
every  house. 

"  As  soon  as  we  left  Abbeville,  the  swarthiness  returned.  I 
speak  generally;  for  here  are  some  fair  women  at  Paris,  who,  I 
think,  are  not  whitened  by  art.  As  to  rouge,  they  didn't  pretend 
24 


554  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKXIN.  [1773. 

to  imitate  nature  in  laying  it  on.  There  is  no  gradual  diminution 
of  the  color,  from  the  full  bloom  in  the  middle  of  the  cheek  to  the 
faint  tint  near  the  sides,  nor  does  it  show  itself  differently  in  differ- 
ent faces.  I  have  not  had  the  honor  of  being  at  any  lady's  toilet 
to  see  how  it  is  laid  on,  but  I  fancy  I  can  tell  you  how  it  is  or  may 
be  done.  Cut  a  hole  of  three  inches  diameter  in  a  piece  of  paper ; 
place  it  on  the  side  of  your  face  in  such  a  manner,  as  that  the  top 
of  the  hole  may  be  just  under  the  eye  ;  then,  with  a  brush  dipped 
in  the  color,  paint  face  and  paper  together ;  so  when  the  paper  is 
taken  off,  there  will  remain  a  round  patch  of  red  exactly  the  form 
of  the  hole.  This  is  the  mode,  from  the  actresses  on  the  stage  up- 
wards through  all  ranks  of  ladies  to  the  princesses  of  the  blood  ; 
but  it  stops  there,  the  queen  not  using  it,  having  in  the  serenity, 
complacence,  and  benignity  that  shine  so  eminently  in,  or  rather 
through  her  countenance,  sufficient  beauty,  though  now  an  old  wo- 
man, to  do  extremely  well  without  it. 

"  You  see  I  speak  of  the  queen  as  if  I  had  seen  her  ;  and  so  I 
have,  for  you  must  know  I  have  been  at  court.  We  went  to  Ver- 
sailles last  Sunday,  and  had  the  honor  of  being  presented  to  the 
king,  Louis  XY. ;  he  spoke  to  both  of  us  very  graciously  and  very 
cheerfully,  is  a  handsome  man,  has  a  very  lively  look,  and  appears 
younger  than  he  is.*  In  the  evening  we  were  at  the  Gra7id  Gou- 
vert,  where  the  family  sup  in  public.  .The  table  was  half  a  hollow 
square,  the  service  gold.  When  either  made  a  sign  for  drink,  the 
word  was  given  by  one  of  the  waiters  :  A.  boire  pour  le  JRoi,  or,  A. 
boirepour  la  Heine.  Then  two  persons  came  from  within,  the  one 
with  wine  and  the  other  with  water  in  carafes  ;  each  drank  a  little 
glass  of  what  he  brought,  and  then  put  both  the  carafes  with  a  glass 
on  a  salver,  and  then  presented  it.  Their  distance  from  each  other 
was  such,  as  that  other  chairs  might  have  been  placed  between  any 
two  of  them.  An  officer  of  the  court  brought  us  up  through  the 
crowd  of  spectators,  and  placed  Sir  John  so  as  to  stand  between  the 
queen  and  Madame  Yictoire.  The  king  talked  a  good  deal  to  Sir 
John,  asking  many  questions  about  our  royal  family ;  and  did  me 
too  the  honor  of  taking  some  notice  of  me  ;  that  is  saying  enough, 
for  I  would  not  have  you  think  me  so  much  pleased  with  this  king 
and  queen,  as  to  have  a  whit  less  regard  than  I  used  to  have  for 

*  He  was  57. 


A.GED   67.]  FRANICLIN'S   ENGLISH   FRIEIHJS.  555 

ours.  No  Frenchman  shall  go  beyond  me  in  thinking  my  own 
king  and  queen  the  very  best  in  the  world,  and  the  most  amiable. 

•'  Versailles  has  had  infinite  sums  laid  out  in  building  it  and  supply- 
ing it  with  water.  Some  say  the  expenses  exceeded  eighty  miUions 
sterling.  The  range  of  buildings  is  immense;  the  garden-front 
most  magnificent,  all  of  hewn  stone ;  the  number  of  statues,  figures, 
urns,  &c.,  in  marble  and  bronze  of  exquisite  workmanship,  is  beyond 
conception.  But  the  water-works  are  out  of  repair,  and  so  is  great 
part  of  the  front  next  the  town,  looking,  with  its  shabby,  half- 
brick  walls,  and  broken  windows,  not  much  better  than  the  houses 
in  Durham  Yard.  There  is,  in  short,  both  at  Versailles  and  Paris, 
a  prodigious  mixture  of  magnificence  and  negligence,  with  every 
kind  of  elegance  except  that  of  cleanliness,  and  what  we  call  tidiness. 
Tliough  I  must  do  Paris  the  justice  to  say,  that  in  two  points  of 
cleanliness  they  exceed  us.  The  water  they  drink,  though  from 
the  river,  they  render  as  pure  as  that  of  the  best  spring,  by  filtering 
it  through  cisterns  filled  with  sand ;  and  the  streets  with  constant 
sweeping  are  fit  to  walk  in,  though  there  is  no  paved  footpath. 
Accordingly,  many  well-dressed  people  are  constantly  seen  walking 
in  them.  The  crowd  of  coaches  and  chairs  for  this  reason  is  not  so 
great.  Men,  as  well  as  women,  carry  umbrellas  in  their  hands, 
which  they  extend  in  case  of  rain  or  too  much  sun ;  and  a  man  with 
an  umbrella  not  taking  up  more  than  three  foot  square,  or  nine 
square  feet  of  the  street,  when,  if  in  a  coach,  he  would  take  up  two 
hundred  and  forty  square  feet,  you  can  easily  conceive  that,  though 
the  streets  here  are  narrow,  they  may  be  much  less  encumbered. 
They  are  extremely  well  paved,  and  the  stones,  being  generally 
cubes,  when  worn  on  one  side  may  be  turned  and  become  new. 

"  The  civilities  we  everywhere  receive  give  us  the  strongest  im- 
pressions of  the  French  politeness.  It  seems  to  be  a  point  settled 
here  universally,  that  strangers  are  to  be  treated  with  respect;  and 
one  has  just  the  same  deference  shown  one  here  by  being  a  stranger, 
as  in  England  by  being  a  lady.  The  custom-house  officers  at  Port 
St.  Denis,  as  we  entered  Paris,  were  about  to  seize  two  dozen  of 
excellent  Bordeaux  wine  given  us  at  Boulogne,  and  which  we 
brought  with  us ;  but,  as  soon  as  they  found  we  were  strangers,  it 
was  immediately  remitted  on  that  account.  At  the  Church  of 
Notre  Dame,  where  we  went  to  see  a  magnificent  illumination,  with 
figures,  for  the  deceased  Dauphiness,  we  found  an  immense  crowd, 


556  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [1773. 

who  were  kept  out  by  guards ;  but,  the  officer  being  told  that  wee 
were  strangers  from  England,  he  immediately  admitted  us,  accom-. 
panied  and  showed  us  every  thing.  Why  don't  we  practice  thiss 
urbanity  to  Frenchmen  ?  Why  should  they  be  allowed  to  outdo  us 
in  any  thing  ? 

"  Here  is  an  exhibition  of  painting,  like  ours  in  London,  to  which 
multitudes  flock  daily.  I  am  not  connoisseur  enough  to  judge  which 
has  most  merit.  Every  night,  Sundays  not  excepted,  here  are  plays 
or  operas ;  and,  though  the  weather  has  been  hot,  and  the  houses 
full,  one  is  not  incommoded  by  the  heat  so  much  as  with  us  in 
winter.  They  must  have  some  way  of  changing  the  air  that  we 
are  not  acquainted  with.     I  shall  inquire  into  it. 

"  Traveling  is  one  way  of  lengthening  life,  at  least  in  appearance. 
It  is  but  about  a  fortnight  since  we  left  London,  but  the  variety 
of  scenes  we  have  gone  through  makes  it  seem  equal  to  six  months 
living  in  one  place.  Perhaps  I  have  suifered  a  greater  change,  too, 
in  my  own  person,  than  I  could  have  done  in  six  years  at  home.  I 
had  not  been  here  six  days,  before  my  tailor  and  perruquier  had 
transformed  me  into  a  Frenchman.  Only  think  what  a  figure  I 
make  in  a  little  bag-wig  and  with  naked  ears  !  They  told  me  I  was 
become  twenty  years  younger,  and  looked  very  gallant.* 

"  This  letter  shall  cost  you  a  shilling,  and  you  may  consider  it 
cheap  when  you  reflect  that  it  has  cost  me  at  least  fifty  guineas  to 
get  into  the  situation  that  enables  me  to  write  it.  Besides,  I 
might,  if  I  had  stayed  at  home,  have  won  perhaps  two  shillings  of 
you  at  cribbage.  By  the  way,  now  I  mention  cards,  let  me  tell  you 
that  quadrille  is  now  out  of  fashion  here,  and  English  whist  all  the 
mode  at  Paris  and  the  court.  And  pray  look  upon  it  as  no  small 
matter,  that,  surrounded  as  I  am  by  the  glories  of  the  world,  and 
amusements  of  all  sorts,  I  remember  you,  and  Dolly,  and  all  the 
dear  good  folks  at  Bromley.  It  is  true  I  cannot  help  it,  but  must 
and  ever  shall  remember  you  all  with  pleasure." 

He  visited  Paris  a  second  time  in  1769,  and  spent  several  weeks 
there.  In  1772  he  made  his  long  ago  meditated  tour  in  Ireland, 
where  he  dined  with  the  Lord-lieutenant,  supped  with  the  leading 
patriots,  was  caressed  and  entertained  by  Lord  Hillsborough,  and 
admitted  to  the  floor  of  the  Irish  Parliament  by  a  unanimous  vote. 

*  In  London  he  wore  a  long  curling  wig. 


AGED    67.]  franklin's    ENGLISH   FRIENDS.  557 

lie  was  puzzled  at  Lord  Hillsborough's  hospitable  conduct;  not 
sufficiently  reflecting  upon  the  infinite  difference  between  an  Irish 
nobleman  doing  the  honors  of  his  country  to  a  distinguished  stran- 
ger, and  an  Irish  Secretary  of  State  striving  for  a  place  in  the 
British  peerage.  "  Lord  Hillsborough,"  he  observes,  "  seemed  at- 
tentive to  every  thing  that  might  make  my  stay  in  his  house  agree- 
able to  me,  and  put  his  eldest  son,  Lord  Killwarling,  into  his 
phaeton  with  me,  to  drive  me  a  round  of  forty  miles,  that  I  might 
see  the  country,  the  seats,  and  manufactures,  covering  me  with 
his  own  greatcoat  lest  I  should  take  cold." 

The  awful  poverty  of  the  Irish  peasantry  struck  him  with  as- 
tonishment and  dismay.  "I  thought  often,"  he  wrote,  "of  the 
happiness  of  New  England,  where  every  man  is  a  freeholder,  has 
a  vote  in  public  affairs,  lives  in  a  tidy,  warm  house,  has  plenty  of 
good  food  and  fuel,  with  whole  clothes  from  head  to  foot,  the  manu- 
facture, perhaps,  of  his  own  family.  Long  may  they  continue  in 
this  situation  !" 

Continuing  his  journey  into  Scotland,  where  he  remarked  that 
most  of  the  peasantry  still  went  barefoot,  he  spent  several  weeks 
among  his  old  friends  in  that  country,  returning  to  London  after 
an  absence  of  three  months.  Calling  upon  Lord  Hillsborough, 
soon  after  his  return,  he  was  refused  admittance. 

His  summer  tour  of  1773  was  signalized  by  an  event  deserving 
more  notice  than  it  has  received.  While  staying  at  the  country 
house  of  his  friend  Lord  Despencer,  he  joined  that  nobleman  in  a 
worthyj^tte^pt  to  abbreviate  the  services  of  the  Church  of  England. 
They  reduced  the  catechism  to  two  questions  :  "  What  is  your  duty 
to  God  ?"  and  "  What  is  your  duty  to  your  neighbor  ?"  Of  the 
psalms,  all  the  repetitions  and  all  the  imprecations  were  omitted. 
The  first  lesson,  being  taken  from  the  Old  Testament,  was  left  out. 
The  Nicene  creed  and  that  of  St.  Athanasius  were  abolished,  and 
the  Apostles'  creed  shortened.  The  communion  service,  that  of 
baptism,  confirmation,  burial,  and  visitation  of  the  sick,  were  all 
abbreviated.  The  morning  service  was  cut  down  about  one-half 
An  edition  of  the  prayer-book  thus  abridged  was  published  anony- 
mously in  1773  by  a  London  bookseller,  but  attracted  so  little  at- 
tention that  scarcely  any  copies  were  sold.  The  preface  of  the 
work,  which  was  composed  entirely  by  Dr.  Franklin,  is  extremely 
modest  and  judicious.     The  editor  professed  himself  to  be  "  a  prot- 


558  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1773. 

estant  of  the  Church  of  England,"  and  one  who  held  "  in  the 
highest  veneration  the  doctrines  of  Jesus  Christ."  "  He  is  a  sin- 
cere lover  of  social  worship,  deeply  sensible  of  its  usefulness  to 
society;  and  he  aims  at  doing  some  service  to  religion,  by  propo- 
sing such  abbreviations  and  omissions  in  the  forms  of  our  Liturgy 
(retaining  every  thing  he  thinks  essential)  as  might,  if  adopted, 
procure  a  more  general  attendance."  *  *  Many  pious  and  devout 
persons,  whose  age  or  infirmities  will  not  suffer  them  to  remain  for 
hours  in  a  cold  church,  especially  in  the  winter  season,  are  obliged 
to  forego  the  comfort  and  edification  they  would  receive  by  their 
attendance  on  divine  service.  These,  by  shortening  the  time,  would 
be  reHeved ;  and  the  younger  sort,  who  have  had  some  principles 
of  religion  instilled  into  them,  and  who  have  been  educated  in  a 
belief  of  the  necessity  of  adoring  their  Maker,  would  probably  more 
frequently,  as  well  as  cheerfully,  attend  divine  service,  if  they  were 
not  detained  so  long  at  any  one  time.  Also,  many  well-disposed 
tradesmen,  shopkeepers,  artificers,  and  others,  whose  habitations 
are  not  remote  from  churches,  could,  and  would,  more  frequently 
at  least,  find  time  to  attend  divine  service  on  other  than  Sundays, 
if  the  prayers  were  reduced  into  a  much  narrower  compass." 

He  argues  his  cause  at  great  length,  explaining  his  reasons  for 
each  omission  with  clearness  and  decorum.  The  effort  was  pre- 
mature. It  was  made  at  one  of  those  bad  periods  when  the  old 
men  being  bigots  and  reactionists,  the  young  men  were,  of  course, 
radicals  and  roues;  when  the  educated  being  indifferent  to  ele- 
vated considerations,  the  ignorant  were  an  unprotected  prey  of 
fanatics  and  pretenders.  There  was  no  class  who  could  be  inter- 
ested in  such  an  attempt.  The  time  may  come,  however,  when 
this  neglected  and  forgotten  volume  may  be  sought  out,  and  some 
of  its  suggestions  adopted  in  the  country  for  which  they  were  de- 
signed ;  the  Church  of  England  being  now  the  only  church  in 
Christendom  strong  enough  to  admit  those  great  changes  which 
are  necessary  to  end  the  long  strife  between  Intelligence  and 
Orthodoxy.  Franklin's  great  object  was  to  extinguish  theology, 
which  he  thought  divided  and  distracted  mankind  to  no  purpose ; 
and  to  restore  Religion,  which,  he  believed,  tended  to  exalt,  refine, 
unite,  assure,  and  calm  the  anxious  sons  of  men. 

In  view  of  the  events  about  to  be  related,  a  few  words  may  be 
added  here  with  regard  to  the  reputation  of  Dr.  Franklin  at  this 


AGED    67.]  franklin's   ENGLISH   FRIENDS.  659 

time.  It  was  very  great  and  very  extensive.  A  member  of  every 
important  learned  body  in  Europe,  he  was  also  a  manager  of  the 
Royal  Society,  president  of  the  American  Philosophical  Society, 
and  one  of  the  eight  foreign  members  of  the  Royal  Academy  of 
Sciences  of  France.  Three  editions  of  his  philosophical  works  had 
appeared  in  Paris,  and  a  new  edition,  much  enlarged,  was  published 
in  'London  in  1773.  "As  to  my  situation  here,"  he  wrote  to  his 
son,  just  after  the  appointment  of  Lord  Dartmouth,  "nothing  can 
be  more  agreeable.  *  *  *  Learned  and  ingenious  foreigners 
that  come  to  England  almost  all  make  a  point  of  visiting  me ;  for 
my  reputation  is  still  higher  abroad  than  here.  Several  of  the 
foreign  embassadors  have  assiduously  cultivated  my  acquaintance, 
treating  me  as  one  of  their  eorps^  partly,  I  believe,  from  the  desire 
they  have,  from  time  to  time,  of  hearing  something  of  American 
affairs,  an  object  become  of  importance  in  foreign  courts,  who  be- 
gin to  hope  Britain's  alarming  power  will  be  diminished  by  the 
defection  of  her  colonies  ;  and  partly  that  they  may  have  an  op- 
portunity of  introducing  me  to  the  gentlemen  of  their  country  who 
desire  it.  The  king,  too,  has  lately  been  heard  to  speak  of  me 
with  great  regard." 

Yet  we  should  always  bear  in  mind,  in  estimating  the  importance 
of  persons  in  feudal  England,  that  society  in  that  great  country  ex- 
ists in  chronic  dislocation.  The  natural  aristocracy  of  England  is 
kept  out  of  its  place  by  an  artificial  aristocracy.  The  natural  aris- 
tocracy of  a  civilized  country  are  the  leading  men  in  the  leading 
pursuits ;  great  merchants,  great  mechanics,  great  engineers,  great 
statesmen,  great  soldiers,  great  preachers,  teachers,  doctors,  and 
lawyers,  great  capitalists  and  improvers,  great  farmers  and  navi- 
gators, great  inventors  and  discoverers,  great  authors,  editors,  ac- 
tors, and  artists.  These  are  the  men  who  naturally  take  the  first 
place,  and  to  whom  we  all  most  willingly  and  proudly  concede  it. 
But  in  England  such  men  were  nothing  in  the  social  scale  compared 
with  persons  of  feudal  "  rank."  If  Franklin  had  been  styled  Lord 
Boston,  or  Duke  of  Pennsylvania,  or  even  Viscount  Germantown, 
every  one  in  the  England  of  that  day  would  have  regarded  him 
as  one  of  the  Great.  That  he  really  was,  to  some  extent,  lord*  of 
Boston ;  that  he  was,  to  a  very  considerable  extent,  duke  of  Pennsylve- 

*  "Law- ward." — T.  Carlyle. 


560  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.  [lllS. 

nia,  were  facts  of  no  importance  whatever,  in  enhancing  his  personal 
consequence  at  the  Court-end  of  London.  By  the  more  barbarous 
portion  of  the  people  of  that  quarter  of  the  town,  the  fact  so  honor- 
able to  Franklin,  that  his  father  had  been  a  candle-maker,  and  him- 
self a  journeyman  printer,  were  actually  supposed  to  diminish  his 
claims  to  respect ! 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


THE    HUTCHINSON   LETTERS. 


One  day,  in  the  latter  part  of  1772,  Dr.  Franklin  was  conversing 
with  a  member  of  Parliament  upon  the  violent  proceedings  of  the 
ministry  against  Boston,  particularly  the  attempt  to  compel  obedi- 
ence to  hateful  measures  by  quartering  troops  in  the  town.  He 
spoke  with  warmth,  for  Boston  was  his  native  place,  and  Massa- 
chusetts had  conferred  upon  him  an  honorable  trust.  Those  arro- 
gant and  vindictive  proceedings,  he  said,  were  the  more  to  be  de- 
plored, because  in  America  they  would  be  regarded  as  the  acts  of 
the  nation,  whereas  they  were  merely  ministerial  and  partisan  ex- 
pedients. They  gave  rise  also  to  tumults  and  rash  publications  in 
America,  which  equally  deceived  the  people  of  England  ;  giving 
them  the  impression  that  the  colonists  were  factious  and  disloyal. 

The  member  of  Parliament  replied,  that  on  one  most  material 
point  Dr.  Franklin  was  mistaken.  The  offensive  measures,  he  said, 
did  not  originate  with  the  ministry,  nor  in  England  at  all.  He  de- 
clared that  not  only  the  sending  out  of  the  troops,  but  all  the  other 
colonial  grievances,  had  been  suggested  and  solicited  by  some  of 
the  most  respectable  among  the  Americans  themselves,  who  had 
repeatedly  written  to  the  ministry  that  the  employment  of  force 
was  necessary  for  the  welfare  of  their  country.  Franklin  expressed 
doubts  of  the  probability  of  this  statement.  The  gentleman  then 
said  that  he  would  undertake  to  furnish  such  proof  of  his  assertions 
as  would  convince  Dr.  Franklin  and  Dr.  Franklin's  countrymen  of 
their  truth. 

Some  days  after  this  interview  the  member  called  again,  and 


AGED  67.]  THE  HUTCHIN^SON  LETTERS.  561 

brought  with  him  a  packet  of  letters,  written  by  persons  of  consid- 
eration in  New  England  for  the  evident  purpose  of  influencing  the 
measures  of  the  home  government.  The  address  of  the  letters  had 
been  removed,  but  Dr.  Franklin  was  informed  that  they  had  been 
w^ritten  to  Mr.  William  Whately,  a  placeman  and  member  of  Par- 
liament, recently  deceased. 

William  Whately  had  been  brought  forward  in  public  life  by  Mr. 
George  Grenville,  whom  he  had  served  in  the  capacity  of  private 
secretary,  and  by  whom  he  was  afterwards  appointed  secretary  to 
the  lords  of  the  treasury.  To  Grenville  and  the  Grenvillians, 
whether  in  or  out  of  office,  Whately  was,  for  several  years,  what 
Jenkinson  was  to  Lord  Bute  and  to  the  "King's  Friends;"  what 
Rigby  was  to  the  Duke  of  Bedford  and  his  followers  ;  what  Amos 
Kendall  was  to  Andrew  Jackson  and  his  party;  what  Thurlow 
Weed  has  been  to  Mr.  Seward  and  the  Republicans ;  though  much 
inferior  to  the  least  able  of  those  active  gentlemen.  That  Junius, 
the  common  scold  of  his  time,  should  speak  of  Whately  with  con- 
temptuous ridicule,  is  nothing ;  his  letters,  which  appear  in  great 
numbers  among  the  Grenville  Papers,  show  him  to  have  been  a 
busy  gossip-collector  and  go-between,  happy  if  he  could  be  the  first 
to  communicate  to  his  patron  the  newest  rumor  from  court  or  the 
last  whisper  from  Downing  Street.  He  maintained  an  extensive 
correspondence  with  persons  in  distant  parts  of  the  empire ;  for  he 
was  known  to  be  the  channel  through  which  information  could  be 
brought  to  the  notice  of  the  Grenvilles  that  could  not  properly  be 
imparted  to  them  in  official  letters.  Every  minister  needs  such  a 
confident — half  colleague,  half  protege.  Nor  is  it  a  dishonorable 
office.  It  merely  happened  that,  in  this  instance,  the  confidential 
person  was  a  man  of  small  endowments  and  narrow  mind. 

After  the  fall  of  the  Grenville  ministry  in  1765,  Whately,  besides 
remaining  in  Parliament,  obtained  the  places  of  Under  Secretary 
of  State,  Director  of  Royal  Progresses,  and,  I  believe,  another  little 
office  of  some  emolument ;  paying  diligent  court,  it  was  said,  to  the 
reactionary  faction  in  the  ministry,  particularly  to  Lord  North. 
This  last  seems  to  be  true,  though  the  lying  Junius  says  it. 

Six  of  the  letters  placed  in  Dr.  Franklin's  hands  were  written  by 
Thomas  Hutchinson,  when  he  was  chief  justice  and  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor of  Massachusetts.  He  had  since  become  governor  of  the 
province.  Unlike  most  of  the  other  royal  governors,  this  man  was 
24* 


562  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1773. 

a  native  of  the  colony  which  he  governed  ;  a  graduate  of  Harvard ; 
once  an  honored  and  popular  servant  of  the  commonwealth.  He 
had  the  great  political  advantage  of  not  being  a  member  of  the 
Church  of  England ;  he  was  a  puritan,  and  even  a  "  Sabbatarian ;" 
*'  a  promoter,"  says  Mr.  Tudor,  "  of  all  those  irksome  and  irritating 
restraints  on  the  most  innocent  movements  of  the  citizens,  which 
the  narrow  bigotry  of  the  Sabbatists  were  eager  to  impose,  and 
which,  in  former  times,  produced  a  species  of  oppression  that  was 
hateful  in  some  cases,  in  others  ridiculous."*  Nevertheless,  when 
the  British  regiments  paraded  on  Sunday,  to  the  sore  annoyance  of 
the  great  majority  of  the  people,  he  said  the  Sunday  parade  dis- 
turbed nobody  but  "  some  of  our  grave  people,  who  did  not  like 
the  noise  of  drums  on  Sunday."  With  his  advantages  of  birth  and 
connections,  he  began  his  public  life  with  general  approval ;  but,  at 
length,  abandoned  himself  to  the  side  of  the  ministry. 

Four  of  the  letters  were  written  by  Andrew  Oliver,  who  suc- 
ceeded Hutchinson  in  the  office  of  lieutenant-governor.  He,  also, 
was  a  native  of  Massachusetts.  The  rest  of  the  letters  were  written 
by  officers  of  the  customs  and  other  servants  of  the  crown. 

These  letters,  before  they  reached  Franklin's  custody,  had  been 
handed  about  among  official  persons  and  others.  They  w^ere 
written  for  the  purpose  of  being  handed  about.  The  whole  series 
contained  but  two  or  three  allusions  to  matters  that  could  be 
considered  private,  and  those  of  no  importance  to  any  one.  In  no 
proper  sense  of  the  word  could  they  be  called  private  letters.  They 
were  written  by  public  men  to  a  public  man,  for  the  information  of 
public  men,  upon  public  topics.  They  were  addressed  to  Mr. 
Whately,  but  were  designed  to  influence  Mr.  Grcnville  and  the 
party  of  which  he  was  a  chief;  some  of  whom  were  again  in  power, 
and  others  hoped  to  be.  In  17V2,  when  William  Whately  died,  the 
letters  had  not  been  returned  to  him;  they  never  fell  into  the  hands 
of  his  executors.  It  is  probable,  but  far  from  certain,  that,  when 
Whately  died,  they  were  in  one  of  the  public  offices  among  a  mass 
of  other  colonial  correspondence. 

The  sacredness  of  letters,  sealed  or  unsealed,  was  not  universally 
recognized  a  hundred  years  ago.  In  the  post-office  letters  were 
never  safe  from  lawless,  prying  eyes,  until  they  were  protected  by 


*  Life  of  James  Otis,  p.  42T. 


i 


AGED   67.]  THE  HUTCHINSON  LETTERS.  563 

their  mere  multitude.  No  public  man,  at  that  day,  dared  trust  im- 
portant letters  to  the  mails,  and  no  public  man's  letters  uniformly 
reached  him  with  whole  seals.  Franklin  frequently  mentions  the 
dilapidated  condition  of  the  seals  of  his  letters,  even  those  written 
by  his  sister  Jane,  which  treated  of  little  but  town  gossip,  millinery, 
and  family  news.  His  public  letters,  he  hnew^  had  repeatedly 
found  their  way  to  the  hands  of  Governor  Hutchinson,  and  had 
been  by  him  transmitted  to  political  persons  in  England  for  the 
purpose  of  injuring  their  author.  Hutchinson  had  even  quoted, 
and  misquoted,  Franklin's  letters  in  his  own  writings.  Several  of 
Franklin's  letters  had  been  in  circulation  in  London  for  three  or 
four  years,  and  had  been  seen  by  ministers ;  letters  in  which  his 
favorite  doctrine  was  set  forth  that  the  king,  not  parliament,  was 
the  tie  that  bound  together  the  colonies  and  the  mother  country. 
Other  loyal  Americans  besides  himself  had  sufiered  from  the  cal- 
umnies sent  from  America  by  officers  of  the  crown  to  ministers. 
In  the  Boston  Gazette  for  September  4th,  1769,  appeared  an  ad- 
vertisement inserted  by  the  celebrated  James  Otis,  and  signed  by 
him,  to  this  efiect :  "  Whereas,  I  have  full  evidence  that  Henry 
Hutton,  Charles  Paxton,  William  Burch,  and  John  Robinson, 
Esquires"  (Commissioners  of  the  Customs),  *'  have  frequently  and 
lately  treated  the  characters  of  all  true  Americans  in  a  manner 
that  is  not  to  be  endured,  by  privately  and  publicly  representing 
them  as  traitors  and  rebels,  *  *  and  me  by  name,  *  *  for  all 
which  general,  as  well  as  personal  abuse  and  insults,  satisfaction  has 
been  personally  demanded,  due  warning  given,  but  no  sufficient 
answer  obtained,  these  are  humbly  to  desire  the  lords  commission- 
ers of  his  majesty's  treasury,  his  principal  secretaries  of  state,  par- 
ticularly my  Lord  Hillsborough,  *  *  to  pay  no  kind  of  regard  to 
any  of  the  abusive  representations  of  me  or  my  country  by  the  said 
Henry,  Charles,  William,  and  John,  or  their  confederates ;  for  they 
are  no  more  worthy  of  credit  than  those  of  Sir  Francis  Bernard,  of 
Nettleham,  Bart.,  or  any  of  his  cabal,"  etc.  This  advertisement 
led  to  a  coffee-house  encounter  between  the  fiery  Otis  and  a  number 
of  king's  officers,  from  which  Mr.  Otis  was  led  home  wounded  and 
bleeding. 

To  return  to  the  packet  of  letters  brought  by  the  member  of  Par- 
liament to  Dr.  Frankhn  in  November,  1772.  The  following  is  a 
brief  outline  of  their  contents  : 


564  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FKANKLIN.  [1773. 

Lettek  1. — From  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Chief  Justice  of  Massa- 
chusetts, to  William  Whately,  M.  P.,  Boston,  Juiie  18th,  1768. 
Narrates  the  seizure  of  a  "  sloop  belonging  to  Mr.  Hancock,  a 
representative  for  Boston  and  a  wealthy  merchant,  of  great  influence 
over  the  populace."  The  sloop  was  seized  by  the  collectors  and 
comptroller  for  a  very  notorious  breach  of  the  act  of  trade,  and, 
after  seizure,  was  taken  into  custody  by  the  officer  of  the  Romney, 
man-of-war,  and  removed  under  command  of  her  guns.  A  mob, 
continues  the  writer,  was  immediately  raised,  who  insulted  the  offi- 
cers, bruised  and  hurt  them,  broke  some  of  the  Avindows  of  their 
houses,  and  burnt  in  triumph  one  of  the  collector's  boats.  Four  of 
the  commissioners  of  the  customs  took  refuge  on  board  the  Romney 
with  their  families.  Town-meetings  at  Boston,  repeatedly  convened, 
had  voted  the  commissioners  and  their  officers  a  nuisance,  instructed 
their  representatives  to  inquire  whether  any  person,  by  writing  or 
in  any  other  way,  had  encouraged  the  sending  of  troops  to  Boston, 
there  being  alarming  reports  of  the  coming  of  troops,  and  appoint- 
ed a  committee  to  wait  on  the  governor  to  desire  him  to  order  the 
man-of-war  out  of  the  harbor.  "  Ignorant  as  they  be,"  wrote  the 
Chief  Justice,  "  yet  the  heads  of  a  Boston  town-meeting  influence 
all  public  measures."  "  It  is  not  possible,"  he  added,  "  that  this 
anarchy  should  last  always."  The  council  of  the  province,  though 
pressed  by  the  governor  to  assist  him  with  their  advice  in  this  con- 
juncture, had  declined  and  evaded  the  demand,  calhng  the  mob  a 
small  disturbance  of  boys  and  negroes,  and  "  not  considering  how 
much  it  will  be  resented  in  England,"  that  the  officers  of  the 
crown  should  be  obliged  to  seek  safety  on  board  a  king's  ship,  and 
the  authorities  of  the  province  "  take  no  notice  of  it." 

Letter  2.  —  From  Thomas  Hutchinson  to  William  Whately, 
Boston,  August,  1768.  Contains  a  long  detail,  showing  that  the 
commissioners  of  the  customs  were  more  odious  than  ever,  through 
the  wicked  and  industrious  misrepresentations  of"  our  incendiaries." 
Justifies  and  extols  the  conduct  of  the  commissioners,  and  declares 
that  the  new  system  brought  upon  the  fair  trader  no  new  burden. 
The  ofiense  of  this  letter  consisted  chiefly  in  the  following  sentences  : 
"  With  all  the  aid  you  can  give  to  the  officers  of  the  crown,  they 
will  have  enough  to  do  to  maintain  the  authority  of  government, 
and  carry  the  laws  into  execution.  If  they  are  discountenanced, 
neglected,  or  fail  of  support  from  you,  they  must  submit  to  every 


AGED    67.]  THE    HUTCHINSON  LETTEKS.  565 

thing  the  present  opposers  of  government  think  fit  to  require  of 
them." 

Letter  3. — From  Thomas  Hutchinson  to  William  Whately, 
Boston,  October  ^th^  1768.  An  artful  letter,  calculated  equally  to 
inflame  the  wrath  of  English  tories  and  of  American  patriots.  The 
writer,  in  commenting  upon  a  letter  received  from  his  correspond- 
ent, says  :  "  It  is  not  strange  that  measures  should  be  immediately 
taken  to  reduce  the  colonies  to  their  former  state  of  government 
and  order ;"  but  he  wonders  the  national  funds  should  be  affected 
by  the  disturbances  in  America.  It  is  true,  he  adds,  that  the  ab- 
surdest  principles  of  government  have  been  propagated  ;  that  many 
of  the  common  people,  wrought  up  to  a  frenzy,  have  talked  of  dying 
in  defense  of  their  liberties  ;  that  there  has  been  continual  danger 
of  mobs ;  that  the  legislature  is  in  accord  with  the  populace,  and 
the  executive  has  wholly  lost  its  force ;  yet,  says  he,  "  I  cannot 
think  that,  in  any  colony,  people  of  any  consideration  have  ever 
been  so  mad  as  to  think  of  a  revolt."  Great  disturbances  might 
have  arisen,  but  they  would  have  spent  all  their  force  within  the 
colony.  "  The  officers  of  the  crown  and  some  of  the  few  friends  who 
dared  to  stand  by  them,  might  have  been  knocked  on  the  head,  and 
some  such  fatal  event  would  probably  have  brought  the  people  to 
their  senses."  He  himself  had  received  letters  warning  him  of  his 
danger  (one  of  which  he  inclosed),  and  he  had,  consequently,  abandon- 
ed his  post,  and  ceased  to  hold  his  court.  "  For  four  or  five  weeks 
past  the  distemper  has  been  growing."  He  then  proceeds  to  relate 
the  well-known  landing,  in  Boston,  of  two  regiments  of  British 
troops  from  fourteen  men-of-war,  lying  off  the  town  with  their 
broadsides  toward  it,  with  springs  on  their  cables,  their  guns  load- 
ed, and  their  decks  cleared  for  action.  This  event  and  the  attending 
circumstances,  he  related  as  the  creature  of  George  III.  might  have 
been  expected  to  relate  them.  The  votes  of  the  Boston  town- 
meeting  he  denounced  as  weak  and  criminal,  and  the  conduct  of  the 
assembly  as  ridiculous.  He  concluded  by  saying  that  the  govern- 
ment of  the  province  had  been  so  long  in  the  hands  of  the  populace, 
that  it  would  be  a  work  of  time  to  "  bring  back  the  people  to  just 
notions  of  the  nature  of  government." 

Letter  4. — Robert  Auchmuty  to  Thomas  Hutchinson,  Septem- 
her  lUh,  1768.  Inclosed  in  the  foregoing,  to  prove  the  perils  that 
beset  a  faithful  servant  of  the  crown.     The  information  furnished 


5oQ  LIFE   AND  TIMES   OF  BENJAMTST  FKANKLIN.  flV'ZS. 

by  Mr.  Auchmuty  was  of  the  vaguest  possible  character.  "  Last 
night  I  was  informed  by  a  gentleman  of  my  acquaintance,  who  had 
his  information  from  one  intimate  with  and  knowing  to  the  infernal 
purposes  of  the  sons  of  liberty,  as  they  falsely  call  themselves,  that 
he  verily  believed,  from  the  terrible  threats  and  menaces  by  those 
Catilines  against  you,  that  your  life  is  greatly  in  danger."  That  is 
the  whole  purport  of  Mr.  Auchmuty's  awful  message. 

Letter  5. — From  Thomas  Hutchinson  to  William  Whately, 
Boston,  December  lOth^  1768.  This  letter  was  written  for  the  sole 
and  avowed  purpose  of  neutralizing  the  eifect  of  a  petition  about 
to  be  sent  to  Parliament  by  the  council  of  Massachusetts.  Hutch- 
inson tells  his  correspondent  that  the  petition,  though  apparently 
sent  "  by  order  of  council,"  was  not  signed  by  all  the  members 
thereof,  and  that,  even  if  it  had  been,  the  document  was  null  in 
consequence  of  the  council  having  convened  without  being  sum- 
moned by  the  governor.  He  adds,  that  it  is  "  very  necessary  the 
circumstances  of  this  proceeding  should  be  known,"  but  he  thinks 
it  best  "  it  should  not  be  known  the  intelligence  conies  from  me." 

Leti^er  6. — From  Thomas  Hutchinson  to  William  Whately, 
Boston,  Jan.  20th,  1769.  This  was  the  most  exasperating  letter 
of  the  series.  He  begins  by  saying  that  he  has  taken  great  pains 
to  spread,  throughout  the  colony,  the  information  received  from  his 
English  correspondent,  that  the  home  government  was  still  resolved 
to  compel  the  colonies  to  obedience.  He  expresses  the  opinion 
that  the  leaders  of  the  popular  movement  ought  to  be  punished, 
and  the  supporters  of  the  crown  rewarded.  He  hopes  that  no 
more  severity  will  be  shown  than  may  be  necessary  to  secure  the 
dependence^  which  a  colony  ought  to  have  upon  a  parent  state,  but 
if  no  measures  are  adopted  but  "  declaratory  acts,  or  resolves,  it  is 
all  over  with  us."  '•''There  must  he  an  abridgment  ofichat  are  called 
English  liberties^  '''•I  doubt  whether  it  is  possible  to  project  a  sys- 
tem of  government  in  which  a  colony^  3,000  miles  distant  from 
the  parent  state^  shall  enjoy  all  the  liberty  of  the  parent  stated''  He 
declared  that  he  wished  well  to  the  colony ;  and  therefore  it  was 
that  he  desired  to  see  some  further  restraint  of  its  liberty.  He 
maintained  that,  in  the  most  perfect  of  all  conceivable  governments, 
"  there  must  be  a  great  restraint  of  natural  liberty." 

Letter  7. — From  Thomas  Hutchinson  to  WiUiam  Whately, 
Boston,  Oct.  201  h,  1769.     This  letter  urges  anew  the  necessity  of 


AGED   67.]  THE    HUTCHINSON  LETTERS.  567 

punishing  the  colonists,  particularly  those  who  had  agreed  not  to 
consume  the  taxed  articles.  One  sentence  of  particular  atrocity 
occurs  in  this  letter.  He  first  intimates  an  opinion  that,  unless  the 
(penal)  duties,  imposed  in  the  last  act,  are  repealed,  it  will  be  im- 
possible to  keep  the  people's  minds  quiet.  "  They  deserve  punish- 
ment, you  will  say ;  but  laying  or  continuing  taxes  upon  all  cannot 
be  thought  equal,  seeing  many  will  be  punished  who  are  not  offend- 
ers.    Penalties  of  another  hind  see)n  better  adapted^ 

Letter  8. — From  Andrew  Oliver,  Secretary  of  Massachusetts, 
to  William  Whately,  Boston,  May  7th,  1767.  This  is  the  vile, 
petty,  mischief-making  letter  of  a  sycophant  short  of  material, 
the  perusal  of  which  must  have  put  the  good  humor  of  Franklin  to 
tlie  severest  test.  The  events  that  had  recently  occurred  in  the 
colony,  all  of  them  unimportant,  he  recounts  at  great  length,  and 
with  most  manifest  falsehood.  He  gives  to  the  most  trifling  cir- 
cumstances a  turn  designed  to  rouse  the  jealousy  and  apprehension 
of  the  court.  He  tells  his  correspondent,  among  other  trivial 
things,  that  at  a  late  festive  gathering  of  the  people.  General  Paoli, 
the  hero  of  Corsica,  was  toasted,  as  well  as  "  the  spark  of  liberty 
just  kindled  in  Spain."  He  has  much  to  say  of  the  alleged  efforts 
of  the  Assembly  "to  lessen  the  officers  of  the  crown  in  the  eyes  of 
the  people,"  suggests  that  the  salary  of  the  governor  (£1,000)  has 
become  insufficient ;  and  recommends  that  the  "  officers  of  the  crown 
he  made,  in  some  measui'e,  independent  of  the  people/^  for,  he 
adds,  "it  is  difficult  to  serve  two  masters."  It  might  be  well 
enough,  he  thought,  for  the  people  to  be  permitted  to  pay  part  of 
the  governor's  salary ;  but  a  sum  sufficient  for  his  maintenance 
should  be  secured  to  him  by  the  home  government ;  and  "  such 
provision  I  look  upon  as  necessary  to  the  restoration  and  support 
of  the  king's  government."  With  regard  to  the  combinations  to 
discontinue  the  consumption  of  taxed  articles,  let  the  government 
but  persevere  a  year  or  two,  and  the  "  game  would  be  over."  An 
injunction  to  keep  secret  the  name  of  the  writer  concludes  the 
letter. 

Letter  9. — From  Andrew  Oliver  to  William  Whately,  Bos- 
ton, May  11th,  1768.  He  had  heard  from  his  correspondent,  that 
the  ministry  intended  to  increase  his  salary,  as  a  reward  for  his  de- 
votion. He  doubts,  however,  whether  he  could  safely  accept  it,  as 
it  had  "  been  given  out,  that  any  one  who  should  receive  a  stipend 


568  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [HIS. 

from  the  government  at  home  should  not  live  in  the  country." 
"  Government  here,"  he  significantly  adds,  "  needs  some  effectual 
support."  The  letter  teems  with  abuse  and  misrepresentation  of 
the  patriots,  and  expresses  the  opinion  that  if  the  last  petition  to 
the  king  should  fail  of  success,  "  some  people  will  be  mad  enough 
to  go  to  extremities."  Again  and  again  he  declares  the  necessity 
of  "  eff'ectual  support." 

Letter  10. — From  Andrew  Oliver  to  William  Whately,  Boston, 
Feb.  13th,  1769.  This  letter  unfolds  a  complete  plan  for  annihila- 
ting popular  liberty  in  the  colony.  Before  entering  upon  this  sub- 
ject, the  writer  states  it  as  his  settled  opinion,  that  "  if  there  be  no 
way  to  take  off  the  original  incendiaries^  they  will  continue  to  in- 
still their  poison  into  the  minds  of  the  people,  through  the  vehicle 
of  the  Boston  Gazette.^''  He  proposes  the  formation  of  a  Colonial 
Aristocracy,  who  should  be  exempt  from  service  in  the  lower  of- 
fices, and  monopolists  of  the  higher.  The  Legislative  Council,  he 
thinks,  should  consist  of  men  possessing  a  landed  estate  of  one  hun- 
dred pounds  a  year,  who  should  hold  their  seats  during  good  be- 
havior, and  be  elected  from  an  Order  of  Patricians,  all  men  of 
landed  estates,  and  appointed  members  of  the  Order  by  the  Royal 
Governor.  This  Order  of  Patricians  should  elect  members  of  the 
legislative  council  from  their  own  body,  as  Scotch  peers  elect  mem- 
bers to  represent  them  in  the  House  of  Lords ;  and  the  members 
so  elected  "  might  bear  a  title  one  degree  above  that  of  Esquire," 
i.  e..  Knight.  Other  suggestions  of  a  similar  nature,  all  designed 
to  make  the  government  powerful  and  the  people  powerless,  are  set 
forth  in  this  epistle. 

Letter  11. — From  Andrew  Oliver  to  William  Whately,  New 
York,  Aug.  12th,  1769.  Still  urges  vigorous  measures,  and  endeav- 
ors to  show  their  necessity  by  misrepresenting  the  temper  of  the 
colonists.  He  says  that  New  York  is  even  worse  than  Massachu- 
setts, since  in  Massachusetts  the  king's  government  still  had  some 
disinterested  friends,  but  in  New  York  not  one.  The  New  Yorkers 
"  universally  approve  of  the  combination  against  importing  goods 
from  Great  Britain  unless  the  revenue  acts  are  repealed  ;  which 
appears  to  me  little  less  than  assuming  a  negative  on  all  acts  of 
Parliament  which  they  do  not  like."  Nay  ;  the  contumacious  New 
Yorkers  go  so  far  as  to  say,  that  the  Bill  of  Rights  and  the  Habeas 
Corpus  Act,  are  not  boons  bestowed  on  them  by  a  gracious  mother 


AGED    67.]  THE    HUTCHINSON  LETTEES.  569 

country,  but  "  are  only  declaratory  of  the  common  law  which  we 
Jyrought  with  us." 

Letter  12. — From  Charles  Paxton,  Commissioner  of  the  Cus- 
toms, Boston  Harbor,  Jime  20th,  1768.  Paxton  was  one  of  the 
gentlemen  wlio  took  refuge  on  board  the  Romney,  as  before  related, 
and  this  short  note  was  written  on  board.  The  substance  of  it  was 
contained  in  its  last  sentence :  "  Unless  we  have  immediately  two 
or  three  regiments,  'tis  tl;e  opinion  of  all  the  friends  of  government, 
that  Boston  will  be  in  open  rebellion." 

Letter  13. — From  Nathaniel  Rogers,  Boston,  December  12th, 
1768.  This  is  a  letter  of  no  importance,  and  has  no  right  to  a  place 
in  the  series.  Rogers  wished  to  succeed  to  Oliver's  place  as  secre- 
tary of  the  province,  provided  Oliver  should  be  advanced  to  the  lieu- 
tenant-governorship, which  was  expected.  Governor  Bernard  was 
going  to  England ;  Lieutenant-Governor  Hutchinson  would  succeed 
him,  and  leave  the  expected  vacancy.  Rogers  asks  the  aid  and  in- 
terest of  his  correspondent.  He  says  that  when  he  was  in  England  he 
mentioned  his  views  to  Governor  Pownall,  Mr.  John  Pownall,  and 
Dr.  Franklin,  who  approved  them.  "I  am  considered  here,"  he 
adds,  "  on  government  side,  for  which  I  have  been  often  traduced 
both  publicly  and  privately,  and  very  lately  have  had  two  or  three 
slaps."* 

Such  were  the  letters.  After  reading  them  Franklin  admitted 
that  his  informant  -had  proved  his  case.  The  quartering  of  troops 
in  Boston  and  the  dependence  of  the  Governor  and  judges  upon 
the  home  government  for  their  salaries,  the  two  measures  most 
offensive  to  the  people  of  Massachusetts,  were  shown  to  have  been 
suggested  and  urged  by  those  very  natives  of  Massachusetts  who 
were  the  most  bound  to  transmit  correct  intelligence  and  good 
advice,  and  from  whom  the  ministry  were  justified  in  expecting 
such.  The  letters  teemed  with  misrepresentations  so  gross  as  to  be 
worse  than  downright  falsehood ;  since  nothing  can  give  such  force 
and  currency  to  a  lie  as  a  slight  infusion  of  truth.  The  longest-lived 
lies  which  history  records  owed  their  long  life  to  the  little  truth 


*  I  liave  prepared  this  abstract  of  the  letters  from  what  appears  to  be  a  copy  of  the  orif?inal 
Boston  edition  of  1773,  a  little  dingy  pamjjhlet  of  forty-nine  pages,  without  title-page,  date,  head- 
ing, note,  or  comment.  There  is  not  one  word  in  or  on  the  pamphlet  except  those  which  compose 
the  thirteen  epistles.  It  was  obligingly  lent  me  by  Mr.  Frank  Moore,  of  New  York ;  to  whose 
valuable  collection  of  historical  curiosities  the  reader  is  otherwise  indebted. 


570  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1773. 

mixed  with  them.  The  spirit  of  the  letters,  too,  was  deeply  ob- 
noxious. Tliey  spoke  the  souls  of  men  eager  to  betray  their  native 
laud  for  wealth  and  place.  Hutchinson,  as  Franklin  learned  after- 
wards, enjoyed  already  part  of  the  price  of  his  treason  in  the  form 
of  a  secret  pension  of  two  hundred  pounds  a  year  from  Lord  Hills- 
borough ;  to  say  nothing  of  his  advancement  to  the  governorship  of 
the  province,  and  his  well-founded  hopes  of  a  baronetcy. 

The  effect  of  the  letters  upon  Dr.  Franklin's  mind,  after  the  first 
burst  of  indignant  contempt  had  subsided,  was  to  allay  the  warmth 
of  his  resentment  against  the  British  government.  How  could  he 
blame  ministers  for  adopting  a  policy  which  men  in  high  office, 
natives  of  America,  reared  and  educated  in  America,  had  solemnly 
and  repeatedly  declared  was  the  policy  which  alone  could  save  their 
country  from  anarchy  and  ruin  ?  Wise  and  independent  ministers 
would,  of  course,  have  heard  the  patriots'  version  of  the  story,  and 
decided  upon  measures  after  weighing  both.  But  no  man  knew 
better  than  Franklin  that  the  ministers  of  George  IH.  could  be  any 
thing  except  wise  and  independent.  They  could  be  dissolute ;  they 
could  be  stupid ;  they  could  be  idle ;  they  could  be  ignorant ;  they 
could  be  corrupt.  "Wise  and  independent  they  could  not  be.  The 
letters  from  America  had  given  such  men  as  Hillsborough  and  Sand- 
wich, not  an  excuse  merely  for  their  violent  measures,  but  complete 
conviction  that  those  measures  were  unavoidable. 

The  gentleman  who  had  furnished  the  letters  desired,  as  he  said, 
not  only'  to  convince  Dr.  Franklin,  but  also  Dr.  Franklin's  coun- 
trymen. Yet  he  could  not  permit  copies  of  the  letters  to  be  taken. 
Franklin  was  of  opinion  that  a  mere  description  of  their  contents 
would  not  have  the  effect  desired,  and  asked  to  be  allowed  to  send 
the  letters  themselves  to  Boston,  where  the  handwriting  would  be 
recognized.  After  some  delay,  he  obtained  permission  to  do  so  on 
condition  that  the  letters  should  be  neither  printed  nor  copied, 
and,  after  being  shown  to  the  chosen  few,  should  be  returned  to 
London.  On  the  second  of  December,  1772,  he  inclosed  them,  in 
his  regular,  official  letter,  to  Thomas  Gushing,  Ghairman  of  the 
Gommittee  of  Gorrespondence  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly.  "  I 
am  not  at  liberty,"  he  wrote,  "to  make  the  letters  pubUc.  I  can 
only  allow  them  to  be  seen  by  yourself,  by  the  other  gentlemen  of 
the  Gommittee  of  Gorrespondence,  by  Messrs.  Bowdoin  and  Pitts 
of  the  Gouncil,  and  Drs.  Chauncy,  Gooper,  and   Winthrop,  with  a 


AGED    G7.J  THE   HUTCHINSON   LETTERS.  571 

few  such  other  gentlemen  as  you  may  think  fit  to  show  them  to. 
After  being  some  months  in  your  possession,  you  are  requested  to 
return  them  to  me." 

The  letters  reached  the  Committee  of  Correspondence,  and  were 
shown  by  them  to  the  leading  patriots.  The  recent  passage  of  ad- 
dresses between  the  Assembly  and  the  governor  had  so  fully  re- 
vealed the  opinions  of  that  personage,  that  his  letters  created  far 
less  astonishment  than  disgust.  But  the  disgust  was  most  pro- 
found. John  Adams,  then  practicing  at  the  bar,  carried  the  letters 
round  his  circuit,  showing  them  to  friends,  male  and  female.  As 
his  custom  was,  he  relieved  his  feelings  in  his  diary.  "  Cool,  think- 
ing, deliberate  villain,"  he  wrote  March  22d,  1773,  "malicious 
and  vindictive."  A  few  days  after  :  "  Bone  of  our  bone,  born  and 
educated  among  us  !  Mr.  Hancock  is  deeply  affected ;  is  deter- 
mined, in  conjunction  with  Major  Hawley,  to  watch  the  vile  ser- 
pent, and  his  deputy  serpent.  Brattle.  The  subtlety  of  this  serpent 
is  equal  to  that  of  the  old  one.  Aunt  is  let  into  the  secret,  and  is 
full  of  her  interjections."  For  two  months  the  letters  continued 
to  circulate  in  Massachusetts,  imtil  many  persons  of  influence  had 
either  read  them  or  had  been  informed  of  their  contents.  Hutch- 
inson himself  was  soon  let  into  the  great  secret  (so  he  says)  by  a 
person  "  who  detested  the  whole  proceeding  as  iniquitous  in  every 
part."  This  general  circulation  of  the  letters  was  afterwards  sanc- 
tioned by  Dr.  Franklin ;  who,  when  the  Committee  urged  the 
necessity  of  their  being  allowed  to  retain  copies,  replied  :  "I  have 
permission  to  let  the  originals  remain  with  you  as  long  as  you  may 
think  it  of  any  use,"  and  "  I  am  allowed  to  say  that  they  may  be 
shown  and  read  to  whom  and  as  many  as  you  think  proper." 
Copying  them  was  still  strictly  forbidden. 

In  June  the  Assembly  convened.  There  was  much  secret  whis- 
pering about  the  letters.  Curiosity  was  on  tip-toe.  The  country 
members  were  eager  for  complete  disclosure,  and  the  more  radical 
members  desired  to  strengthen  their  side  by  making  it.  It  being 
determined,  at  length,  that  the  letters  should  be  read  to  the  House 
in  secret  session,  Mr.  Hancock  informed  the  House  that  within 
two  days  a  discovery  would  be  made  which,  if  rightly  improved, 
would  put  the  province  into  a  happier  state  than  it  had  knoAvn  for 
fourteen  years.  On  the  appointed  day  the  galleries  were  cleared, 
the  doors  closed,  and,  amid    breathless  silence,  the  letters  were 


572  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [lYYS. 

read.  Soon  after,  printed  copies  of  the  letters  made  their  appear- 
ance, said  to  have  been  printed  from  "  copies  just  received  from 
England."  The  pamphlet  found  its  way  to  all  the  colonies,  and 
some  copies  were  sent  to  England. 

The  proceedings  of  the  Assembly,  after  the  disclosure,  are  too 
well  known  to  require  restatement  here.  The  result  of  their  de- 
liberations was  the  resolve  to  petition  the  king  to  remove  from 
office  the  two  chief  offenders,  Hutchinson  and  Oliver.  A  pe- 
tition was  accordingly  prepared,  couched  in  language  the  most 
respectful.  Its  concluding  words  were  these  :  . "  We  do,  with  all 
due  submission  to  your  majesty,  beg  leave  to "  represent  that 
"  Thomas  Hutchinson  and  Andrew  Oliver  have  been  among  the 
chief  instruments  in  introducing  a  fleet  and  army  into  this  prov- 
ince to  establish  and  perpetuate  their  plans,  whereby  they  have 
been,  not  only  greatly  instrumental  in  disturbing  the  peace  and 
harmony  of  the  government,  and  causing  unnatural  and  hateful 
discords  and  animosities  between  the  several  parts  of  your  majes- 
ty's extensive  dominions,  but  are  justly  chargeable  with  all  that 
corruption  of  morals,  and  all  that  confusion,  misery,  and  bloodshed, 
which  have  been  the  natural  effects  of  posting  an  army  in  a  popu- 
lous town.  Wherefoke,  we  most  humbly  pray,  that  your  majes- 
ty would  be  pleased  to  remove  from  their  posts,"  the  said  function- 
aries, "  and  place  such  good  and  faithful  men  in  their  stead,  as  your 
wisdom  shall  think  fit."  The  petition,  I  should  add,  expressly 
stated,  that  the  Assembly  had  derived  their  new  information  re- 
specting Hutchinson  and  Oliver  from  "certain  papers,"  which  they 
had  "  very  lately  had  before  them." 

The  petition  was  forwarded  to  Dr.  Franklin,  who,  on  the  21st  of 
August,  lY'ZS,  sent  it  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  then  at  his  country-seat, 
"^ith  the  following  letter: 

"  My  Lord  :  I  have  just  received,  from  the  House  of  Represent- 
atives of  the  Massachusetts  Bay,  their  address  to  the  king,  which 
I  now  enclose  and  send  to  your  Lordship,  with  my  humble  request 
in  their  behalf,  that  you  would  be  pleased  to  present  it  to  his  ma- 
jesty the  first  convenient  opportunity.  I  have  the  pleasure  of  hear- 
ing from  that  province  by  my  late  letters,  that  a  sincere  disposition 
prevails  in  the  people  there  to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  mother 
country ;  that  the  Assembly  have  declared  their  desire  only  to  be 
put  into  the  situation  they  were  in  before  the  Stamp  Act.      They 


AGED    67.]  TH-E    HTJTCHINSON  LETTERS.  673 

aim  at  no  novelties.  And  it  is  said,  that,  having  lately  discovered, 
as  they  think,  the  authors  of  their  grievances  to  be  some  of  their 
own  people,  their  resentment  against  Britain  is  thence  much  abated. 
This  good  disposition  of  theirs  (will  your  Lordship  permit  me  to 
say  ?)  may  be  cultivated  by  a  favorable  answer  to  this  address, 
which  I  therefore  hope  your  goodness  will  endeavor  to  obtain." 

To  which,  by  return  of  post,  Lord  Dartmouth  sent  this  re- 
ply :  "Sir — I  have  received  your  letter  of  the  21st  instant,  to- 
gether with  an  address  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the 
Massachusetts  Bay,  which  I  shall  not  fail  to  lay  before  the  king  the 
next  time  I  shall  have  the  honor  of  being  admitted  into  his  pres- 
ence. I  cannot  help  expressing  to  you  the  pleasure  it  gives  me  to 
hear  that  a  sincere  disposition  prevails  in  the  people  of  that  prov- 
ince to  be  on  good  terms  with  the  mother  country,  and  my  earnest 
hope  that  the  time  is  at  no  great  distance  when  every  ground  of 
uneasiness  will  cease,  and  the  most  perfect  tranquillity  and  happiness 
be  restored  to  the  breasts  of  that  people." 

This  seemed  an  auspicious  beginning,  but  only  seemed.  Not 
another  word  from  the  government  respecting  the  petition  reached 
him  for  five  months.  The  year  1773  passed  away,  and  the  peti- 
tion still  lay  in  the  colonial  office,  neither  granted  nor  rejected.  It 
was,  probably,  the  intention  of  the  ministry  to  let  it  lie  there  unno- 
ticed, till  the  affair  should  be  forgotten. 

The  letters,  meanwhile,  reached  London,  and  were  published  in 
all  the  principal  newspapers,  exciting  universal  inquiry  how  the 
letters  were  obtained.  Suspicion  fell  upon  Mr.  Thomas  Whately, 
brother  and  executor  of  the  deceased,  to  whom  his  letters  and 
papers  had  been  bequeathed,  and  in  whose  custody  they  had  been 
since  the  death  of  his  brother.  Thomas  Whately,  who  was  neces- 
sarily innocent  of  the  charge,  the  letters  in  question  never  having 
been  in  his  possession,  was  restive  under  the  accusation,  and  anxious 
to  prove  his  innocence  ;  the  more  anxious  from  his  being  a  banker 
employed  by  the  government  in  the  payment  of  pensions.  Dr. 
Johnson  received  his  semi-annual  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  from 
the  banking  house  of  Thomas  Whately.  The  person  suspected  by 
Whately  of  having  abstracted  the  letters  was  Mr.  John  Temple,  an 
officer  of  the  customs,  formerly  lieutenant-governor  of  New  Hamp- 
shire. There  were  strong  grounds  for  this  suspicion :  First,  Mr. 
Temple,  in  writing  to  his  confidants  in  America,  had  announced 


574  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FEAXKLIN.  [1773. 

the  coming  of  the  letters  before  they  had  reached  the  colony. 
Secondly,  in  October,  1772,  he  had  sought  and  obtained  access  to 
the  papers  of  the  deceased  for  the  purpose  of  taking  therefrom 
certain  letters  of  his  own  and  of  his  brother's.  It  was,  therefore, 
natural  to  suspect  that  he  had  taken  the  other  letters  at  the  same 
time,  which  he  could  have  done  with  a  fair  prospect  of  impunity, 
since  the  executor,  who  had  permitted  him  to  select  his  own  and 
his  brother's  letters,  had  not  yet  examined  the  great  mass  of  papers 
left  to  his  care. 

The  suspicions  entertained  of  Mr.  Temple  found  their  way  into 
print.  On  the  eighth  of  December,  1772,  a  letter  appeared  in  the 
Public  Advertiser^  signed  "  Anterior,"  charging  him  with  having 
taken  the  letters  dishonorably,  and  suiDporting  the  charge  by  inti- 
mating that  the  information  was  derived  from  Mr.  Thomas  Whately. 
Temple  instantly  called  upon  Whately,  denied  the  charge  in  terms 
the  most  explicit,  and  asked  a  public  statement  from  Whately  ex- 
onerating him.  In  the  paper  of  the  day  following,  Whately  pub- 
lished a  narrative,  to  this  effect : 

Mr.  Temple  having  applied  for  permission  to  select  from  the  corre- 
spondence of  the  deceased  certain  letters,  "  I  made  no  scruple  to  lay 
before  him,  and  occasionally  during  his  visit  to  leave  with  him, 
several  parcels  of  letters  from  my  late  brother's  correspondents  in 
America,  in  the  exact  state  in  which  they  had  come  into  my  pos- 
session; some  regularly  sorted,  and  some  promiscuously  tied  to- 
gether ;  and  some  of  them  were  from  Mr.  Temple  himself,  and  his 
brother,  and  from  Governor  Hutchinson,  Mr.  Oliver,  and  others  ; 
and,  during  the  intervals  that  I  was  in  the  room  with  Mr.  Temple, 
we  did  together  cast  our  eyes  on  one  or  two  letters  of  Governor 
Hutchinson,  and  I  believe  one  or  two  other  correspondents  of  my 
late  brother.  In  July  last  I  received  information  from  Mr.  Oliver 
of  Boston,  that  several  letters  to  my  late  brother  had  been  laid  be- 
fore the  Assembly  of  the  province ;  upon  which  I  waited  upon  Mr- 
Temple  and  told  him  I  thought  myself  entitled  to  call  upon  him  to 
join  his  name  with  mine  in  asserting  the  integrity  and  honor  of 
both  of  us  ;  that  he,  and  he  only,  had  ever  had  access  to  any  of  the 
letters  of  my  brother's  correspondents  in  America,  and  that  I  was 
called  upon  to  account  for  the  appearance  of  the  letters  in  question. 
Mr.  Temple  assured  me,  in  terms  the  most  proci^o.  that,  (except 
some  letters  froni  himself  and  his  brother,  which  he  had  from  me 


AGED    67.J  THE   HUTCHINSON   LETTERS.  676 

by  ray  permission)  he  had  not  taken  a  single  letter,  or  an  extract 
from  any,  I  had  communicated  to  him.  I  saw  him  twice  afterwards 
OH  the  same  subject,  and  the  same  assurances  were  invariably  re- 
peated by  him,  and  confirmed  by  him  in  the  most  solemn  manner." 

Dr.  Franklin,  at  this  time,  was  in  the  country.  Three  persons  in 
England,  and  three  in  America,  knew  that  lie  had  sent  the  letters. 
In  all  the  discussions  and  publications  to  which  they  had  given  rise, 
his  name  had  not  been  mentioned  ;  which  is  the  more  remarkable 
because  he  had  not  suggested  nor  designed  that  his  agency  in  the 
matter  should  be  concealed.  He  had  inclosed  the  letters  in  one  of 
his  regular  official  dispatches  to  the  Committee  of  Correspondence, 
without  stipulation  with  regard  to  himself. 

To  Mr.  John  Temple,  the  narrative  of  Whately  was  in  the  high- 
est degree  unsatisfactory.  "  He  omitted  to  state,"  wrote  Temple, 
a  few  days  later,  "  what  was  solely  essential,  that  he  did  not  know 
the  letters  in  question  were  among  those  he  put  into  my  hands,  and 
that  none  of  those  he  had  intrusted  to  me  appeared  to  be  missing ; 
but  related  tlie  matter  in  such  a  manner  as  strongly  to  corroborate 
the  anonymous  charge,  and  gave  me,  to  my  understanding,  the  lie 
direct." 

In  short,  Mr.  Temple  sent  a  challenge  to  Mr.  Whately.  The 
challenge  was  borne  by  Mr.  Ralph  Izard,  of  South  Carolina,  then 
residing  in  London,  who  offered  to  serve  as  Mr.  Temple's  second, 
if  Whately  would  also  name  a  "friend."  The  doughty  banker  ac- 
cepted the  challenge,  but  refused  to  have  a  second,  and  agreed  to 
meet  his  antagonist  in  the  Ring  of  Hyde  Park,  at  four  o'clock  the 
next  morning,  December  the  11th.  At  the  time  appointed  both 
gentlemen  appeared  in  the  field,  unaccompanied,  Mr.  Temple  be- 
ing armed  with  sword  and  pistols,  and  Mr.  Whately  with  a  sword 
only.  Temple,  presuming  that  he  was  about  to  encounter  a  skillful 
swordsman,  proposed  beginning  the  encounter  with  pistols,  and 
offered  one  of  his  own  to  Mr.  Whately,  who  accepted  it.  They 
fired  without  result.  Both  then  drew  their  swords;  they  ap- 
proached each  other,  and  began  the  game  of  parry  and  thrust. 
Temple,  who  was  not  unskilled  in  the  use  of  his  weapon,  discover- 
ing, at  once,  that  Whately  was  completely  at  his  mercy,  endeavored 
to  wound  his  sword  arm,  and  thus  end  the  combat.  Whately, 
however,  inexpert  as  he  was,  made  a  vigorous  defense,  laying 
about  him  with  a  wild  energy  that  baffled  the  scientific  thrusts  of 


576  LIFE   ATHJ   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIX.  [1773. 

his  antagonist.  It  became  a  tumultuous  and  even  ridiculous  strug- 
gle, during  which  Whately,  in  his  furious  contortions,  repeatedly 
exposed  himself  to  a  fatal  hnige.  Temple,  kindling  at  length,  aimed 
a  thrust  which  would  have  transfixed  the  banker  if  it  had  taken 
effect.  Whately,  however,  caught  at  the  blade  with  his  left  hand, 
and  so  diverted  the  stroke  that  it  pierced  his  side  without  touching 
a  vital  part.  The  wound  was  somewhat  severe,  though  not  dan- 
gerous, and  Whately  uttered  words  indicating  a  desire  to  end  the 
fight.  But  Temple,  who  was  extremely  deaf,  did  not  hear  him, 
and  snatching  away  the  sword,  thrust  again.  Whately  slipped,  fell 
forward,  and  received  the  point  of  the  sword  in  the  back  part  of 
one  of  his  shoulders.  The  combat  then  terminated ;  Whately  be- 
ing twice  wounded,  Temple  unhurt,  and  neither  satisfied.  Ralph 
Izard  and  Arthur  Lee  were  approaching  the  field  in  a  carriage, 
when  they  heard  the  discharge  of  the  pistols.  Ahghting,  they 
walked  toward  the  scene  of  the  encounter,  and  met  the  wounded 
man  returning  from  it.  Mr.  Izard  placed  him  in  his  carriage  and 
accompanied  him  home,  while  Arthur  Lee  sought  Mr.  Temple,  and 
walked  with  him  to  Izard's  house.* 

Such  an  affair  could  not  but  become  the  town  talk ;  could  not 
but  be  related  with  a  hundred  variations  from  the  truth.  The  true 
version  of  a  tale  like  this  is,  usually,  the  last  one  to  find  currency 
or  belief.  It  was  said,  among  other  things,  that  the  wound  in  the 
back  of  Whately's  shoulder,  was  given,  and  could  only  have  been 
given,  when  that  gentleman  had  fallen  down ;  that  Temple,  thirst- 
ing for  blood,  had  continued  the  combat  after  Whately  had  cried 
to  him  to  desist ;  and  that  Whately  only  waited  for  the  healing  of 
his  wound  to  challenge  his  antagonist  to  another  encounter. 
Temple  published  a  long  narrative  of  the  duel  in  the  Public  Ad- 
vertiser of  December  18th,  in  which  he  denied  these  charges, -and 
mentioned  his  deafness.  He  concluded  his  statement  with  these 
words :  "  As  Mr.  Whately's  narrative  tends  to  confirm  the  suspi- 
cion of  my  having  taken  from  him  the  letters  which  were  sent  to 
Boston,  I  do  again  most  solemnly  afiirm,  that  I  neither  took  from 
him  those,  nor  any  other  letters,  but  such  as  were  written  by  my 
brother  and  myself  to  the  late  Mr.  Whately,  and  that  with  his 
knowledge  and   consent;   nor  had  I  any  concern,   directly  or  in- 


Life  of  Arthur  Lee,  i.,  270. — Public  Advertiser,  December,  1773. 


I 


AGED    67.]  THE   HUTCHINSON   LETTEES.  611 

directly,  in  procuring  or  transmitting  the  letters  which  were  sent 
to  Boston." 

Dr.  Franklin  returned  to  London.  Hearing  that  a  second  duel 
between  the  still  irate  gentlemen  was  probable,  and  regretting  that 
he  had  not  heard  of  the  first  challenge  in  time  to  prevent  the  meet- 
ing, he  now  determined  to  interfere.  On  Christmas  day,  1773,  he 
sent  to  the  Public  Advertiser  the  following  note,  which  was  imme- 
diately published : 

"  Finding  that  two  gentlemen  have  been  unfortunately  engaged 
in  a  duel,  about  a  transaction  and  its  circumstances,  of  which  both 
of  them  are  totally  ignorant  and  innocent ;  I  think  it  incumbent 
upon  me  to  declare  (for  the  prevention  of  further  mischief,  as  far 
as  such  a  declaration  may  contribute  to  prevent  it),  that  I  alone  am 
the  person  who  obtained  and  transmitted  to  Boston  the  letters  in 
question.  Mr.  W.  could  not  communicate  them,  because  they  were 
never  in  his  possession ;  and,  for  the  same  reason,  they  could  not 
be  taken  from  him  by  Mr.  T.  They  were  not  of  the  nature  of  ^:)rz- 
vate  letters  between  friends.  They  were  written  by  public  officers 
to  persons  in  public  stations,  on  public  affairs,  and  intended  to  pro- 
cure public  measures ;  they  were  therefore  handed  to  other  public 
persons,  who  might  be  influenced  by  them  to  produce  those  meas- 
ures. Their  tendency  was  to  incense  the  mother  country  against 
her  colonies,  and  by  the  steps  recommended  to  widen  the  breach ; 
which  they  effected.  The  chief  caution  expressed  with  regard  to 
privacy  was,  to  keep  their  contents  from  the  colony  agents,  who, 
the  writers  apprehended,  might  return  them,  or  copies  of  them,  to 
America.  That  apprehension  was,  it  seems,  well  founded  ;  for  the 
first  agent  who  laid  his  hands  on  them  thought  it  his  duty  to  trans- 
mit them  to  his  constituents." 

This  letter  delivered  the  gentlemen  from  a  situation  which  to  both 
was  disagreeable,  and  to  Whately  dangerous.  The  friends  of  Dr. 
Franklin  applauded  his  frankness  and  courage.  He  himself,  for  a 
short  time,  indulged  the  belief  that  his  letter  had  ended  the  affair. 

He  was  never  more  mistaken.  The  court  party,  long  deterred 
by  his  great  character,  often  baffled  by  his  great  prudence,  perceived 
that  their  opportunity  had  come,  and  hastened  to  turn  it  to  account. 
On  Sati^rdny^  .Tnnnnry  ftt.h^  fnnrtf>pn  day|  after  the  date  of  the  letter 
given  above,  he  wasastomshed  to  "receive  official  notice  that  the 
lords  of  the  Committee  for  Plantation  Affairs  would  meet  on  the 


51 S  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF  BENJAMIN   FEANKLIN.  [l773. 

Tuesday  following,  at  noon,  to  take  into  consideration  the  petition 
for  the  removal  of  the  governor  and  lieutenant-governor  of  Massa- 
chusetts, referred  to  them  by  the  king,  and  that  the  attendance  of 
the  agent  for  the  Assembly  of  that  province  was  required.  He 
suspected  immediately  that  the  Lords  of  the  Committee  meant 
mischief  The  revival  of  the  petition  was  too  sudden,  the  notice 
too  short,  the  message  too  peremptory,  not  to  awaken  such  a  sus- 
picion. He  sent  for  Mr.  Arthur  Lee,  his  substitute,  then  a  student 
at  one  of  the  inns  at  court,  not  yet  called  to  the  bar.  Mr.  Lee  was 
at  Bath.  The  next  morning  he  called  upon  Mr.  Bollan,  a  barrister, 
who  was  employed  by  the  Council  of  Massachusetts  as  their  Lon- 
don agent.  He,  too,  had  received  notice  to  attend  the  Lords  of 
the  Committee.  The  question  arose  between  them  whether  other 
counsel  should  be  employed.  Mr.  Bollan  advised  not,  since  emi- 
nent lawyers  were  unwilling  to  offend  the  court,  upon  whose  favor 
their  promotion  depended.  He  engaged  to  ask  a  hearing,  and  to 
support  the  petition  himself. 

Late  on  Monday  afternoon,  Mr.  Israel  Manduit,  agent  and  friend 
of  Hutchinson  and  Oliver^  sent  notice  that  he  had  obtained  leave 
to  be  heard  by  counsel  before  the  Lords  of  the  Committee.  This 
notice  was  a  mockery,  for  the  lords  were  to  meet  at  noon  on  the 
day  following.  The  counsel  employed  by  Mr.  Manduit  was  Alex- 
ander Wedderburn,  the  king's  soHcitor-general,  a  sharp,  unprin- 
cipled Scotch  barrister,  destined  to  scale  all  the  heights  of  prefer- 
ment which  shameless  subserviency  could  reach. 

The  council  met  at  the  appointed  time.  It  was  attended  by  four 
of  the  ministers,  and  a  number  of  other  lords  of  the  Privy  Council. 
The  proceedings  began  by  the  reading  of  the  petition,  and  Dr. 
Franklin's  letter  presenting  the  same.  The  Lord  President  then 
asked  Dr.  Franklin  what  he  had  to  offer  in  support  of  the  petition. 
He  replied  that  Mr.  Bollan,  in  accordance  with  the  notice  sent  him 
by  the  clerk  of  the  council,  was  present,  and  would  speak  upon  the 
petition.  That  gentleman  coming  forward  and  beginning  to  speak, 
several  lords  objected,  saying  that  he  was  the  agent  of  the  Council 
of  Massachusetts,  not  of  the  Assembly,  and  had  no  right  to  a  hearing 
on  behalf  of  the  Assembly.  He  attempted,  however,  to  address  the 
lords,  but,  after  many  interruptions,  he  was  forbidden  to  proceed. 
Dr.  Franklin  then  said  that  he  had  brought  with  him  the  Res- 
olutions of  the  Assembly,  which  had  preceded   the  petition,  and 


AGED    G7.]  THE   HUTCHINSON   LETTEES.  579 

the  letters  upon  which  those  Resolutions  were  founded ;  and  these 
he  would  offer  in  support  of  the  petition.  The  Resolutions  were 
immediately  read.  Wedderburn  then  asked  what  the  "  certain  pa- 
pers" were,  upon  which  the  Assembly  founded  their  proceedings. 
"  The  letters  of  Mr.  Hutchinson  and  Mr.  Oliver,"  replied  Franklin. 
The  following  conversation  ensued  ; 

Chief  Justice  De  Grey. — "  Have  you  brought  the  letters  ?" 

Franklin. — "  No ;  but  here  are  attested  copies." 

JLord  President. — "  Do  you  mean  to  found  a  charge  upon  them  ? 
If  you  do,  you  must  produce  the  letters." 

Franklin. — "  These  copies  are  attested  by  several  gentlemen  at 
Boston,  and  a  notary  public." 

A  Lord. — "  What  is  the  nature  of  the  letters  V 

Franklin. — "  That  will  appear  when  they  are  read,  and  I  pray 
your  lordship  to  hear  them." 

Chief  Justice. — "  To  whom  were  the  letters  directed  ?  There  is 
no  address  upon  any  of  them." 

Franklin. — "  Though  it  does  not  appear  to  whom  they  were  di- 
rected, it  is  plain  enough  who  wrote  them ;  their  names  are  sub- 
scribed, and  the  originals  have  been  shown  to  the  gentlemen  them- 
selves, and  they  have  not  denied  their  handwriting." 

Wedderburn. — "  My  lords,  we  shall  not  take  advantage  of  any 
imperfection  in  the  proof.  We  admit  that  the  letters  are  Mr. 
Hutchinson's  and  Mr.  Oliver's  handwriting ;  reserving  to  ourselves 
the  right  of  inquiring  how  they  were  obtained." 

Franklin. — "  It  is  some  surprise  to  me,  my  lords,  to  find  coun- 
sel employed  against  the  petition." 

Chief  Justice. — "  Had  you  not  notice  sent  you  of  Mr.  Manduit's 
having  petitioned  to  be  heard  by  counsel,  on  behalf  of  the  governor 
and  lieutenant-governor  ?" 

Franklin. — "  I  did  receive  notice,  but  not  till  late  yesterday  al- 
ternoon.  It  was  not  my  purpose  to  trouble  your  lordships  with 
the  hearing  of  counsel,  because  I  did  not  conceive  that  any  thing 
could  possibly  arise  out  of  the  petition,  any  point  of  law  or  of  right, 
that  might  require  the  discussion  of  lawyers.  I  apprehend  that  this 
matter  before  your  lordships  is  rather  a  question  of  civil  or  polit- 
ical prudence,  whether,  on  the  state  of  the  fact  that  the  governors 
have  lost  all  trust  and  confidence  with  the  people,  and  become  uni- 
versally obnoxious,  it  will  be  for  the  interest  of  his  Majesty's  ser- 


580  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FBANKLIN.  [l773. 

vice  to  continue  them  in  those  stations  in  that  province.  I  conceive 
this  to  be  a  question  of  which  your  lordships  are  already  perfect 
judges,  and  can  receive  no  assistance  in  it  from  the  arguments  of 
counsel ;  but  if  counsel  is  to  be  heard  on  the  other  side,  I  must  then 
request  leave  to  bring  counsel  in  behalf  of  the  Assembly,  and  that 
your  lordships  will  be  pleased  to  appoint  a  further  day  for  the  hear- 
ing, to  give  time  for  preparing  the  counsel." 

Chief  Justice. — "  Where  a  charge  is  brought  the  parties  have  a 
right  to  be  heard  by  counsel,  or  not,  as  they  choose." 

Franklin. — "  Will  Mr.  Manduit  waive  his  right  to  be  heard  by 
counsel,  in  order  that  your  lordship  may  proceed  immediately  to 
consider  the  petition  ?" 

Manduit. — "  My  lords,  I  am  not  a  native  of  that  country,  as  these 
gentlemen  are.  I  know  well  Dr.  Franklin's  abilities,  and  wish  to 
put  the  defense  of  my  friends  upon  a  parity  with  the  attack ;  he  will 
not  therefore  wonder  that  I  choose  to  appear  before  your  lordships 
with  the  assistance  of  counsel.  My  friends,  in  their  letters  to  me, 
have  desired  (if  any  proceedings,  as  they  say,  should  be  had  upon 
this  Address)  that  they  may  have  a  hearing  in  their  own  justifica- 
tion, that  their  innocence  may  be  fully  cleared,  and  their  honor  vin- 
dicated ;  and  have  made  provision  accordingly.  I  do  not  think  my- 
self at  liberty,  therefore,  to  give  up  the  assistance  of  my  counsel  in 
defending  them  against  this  unjust  accusation." 

Chief  Justice. — "  Dr.  Franklin  may  have  the  assistance  of  coun- 
sel, or  go  on  without  it,  as  he  shall  choose." 

Franklin. — "  I  desire  to  have  counsel." 

Chief  Justice. — "  What  time  do  you  want  ?" 

Franklin. — "  Three  weeks." 

Chief  Justice. — "  Further  proceedings,  then,  are  postponed  until 
Saturday,  the  29th  of  the  month." 

Wedderburn. — "  Although,  to  save  your  lordship's  time,  I  have 
admitted  these  to  be  true  copies  of  the  original  letters,  I  give  no- 
tice that  when  the  matter  comes  on  again,  I  shall  exercise  the  right 
to  ask  certain  questions,  as  how  the  Assembly  came  into  possession 
of  them,  through  what  hands,  and  by  what  means  they  were  pro- 
cured." 

Chief  Justice. — "Certainly;  and  to  whom  they  were  directed; 
for  the  perfect  understanding  of  the  passages  may  depend  on  that 
and  other  such  circumstances.    We  can  receive  no  charge  against  a 


AGED    67.]  THE   HUTCHINSON   LETTEKS.  581 

man  founded  on  letters  directed  to  nobody,  and  perhaps  received 
by  nobody.     The  laws  of  this  country  have  no  such  practice." 

Dr.  Franklin  then  prepared  to  withdraw.  As  he  was  putting  up 
his  papers,  a  lord  near  whom  he  stood  asked  him  if  he  intended 
to  answer  such  questions.  To  this  impertinence  Franklin  replied  : 
"  In  that  I  shall  take  counsel." 

He  began  at  once  to  prepare  for  the  next  meeting  of  the  coun- 
cil. While  he  was  busy  with  documents  and  consultations,  he 
received  an  unpleasant  reminder  from  Mr.  Thomas  Whately.^  who, 
on  recovering  from  his  wounds,  hastened  to  join  in  the  fray.  This 
man  had  been  twice  served  by  Franklin.  A  valuable  tract  of  land 
in  Pennsylvania,  belonging  to  Whately,  Dr.  Franklin  had  assisted 
him  to  recover  from  the  Penn  family,  who  claimed  it  as  their  own. 
To  Franklin  he  owed,  also,  his  exoneration  from  the  charge  of  giv- 
ing up  his  brother's  letters,  and  his  deliverance  from  the  peril  of  a 
second  encounter  with  Temple.  "  The  return  this  worthy  gentleman 
made  me  for  both  favors,"  said  Franklin,  "  was  without  the  small- 
est previous  notice,  warning,  complaint,  or  request  to  me,  directly, 
or  indirectly,  to  clap  upon  my  back  a  chancery  suit."  He  had  the 
impudence  to  sue  his  benefactor  for  the  profits  alleged  to  have  ac- 
crued from  the  sale  of  his  brother's  letters.  His  bill  of  complaint 
was  curiously  compact  with  falsehood.  It  stated,  as  Franklin  re- 
cords, that  "  the  letters  had  been  in  the  custody  of  his  brother  at 
the  time  of  his  death,  or  had  been  by  him  delivered  to  some  other 
person  for  perusal,  and  to  be  by  such  person  safely  kept  and  return- 
ed to  said  Thomas  Whately ;  that  the  same  had  by  some  means 
come  into  my  hands ;  that,  to  prevent  a  discovery,  I,  or  some  per- 
son by  my  order,  had  erased  the  address  of  the  letters  to  the  said 
Thomas  Whately ;  that,  carrying  on  the  trade  of  a  printer,  I  had, 
by  my  agents  or  confederates,  printed  and  published  the  same  letters 
in  America,  and  disposed  of  great  numbers  ;  that  I  threatened  to 
print  and  sell  the  same  in  England ;  and  that  he  had  applied  to  me 
to  deliver  up  to  him  the  said  letters,  and  all  copies  thereof,  and  desist 
from  printing  and  publishing  the  same,  and  account  with  him  for 
the  profits  thereof;  and  he  was  in  hopes  I  vvould  have  complied 
with  such  request,  but  so  it  was  that  I  had  refused,  contrary  to 
equity  and  good  conscience,  and  to  the  manifest  injury  and  oppres- 
sion of  him  the  complainant ;  and  praying  my  Lord  Chancellor, 
that  I  might  be  obliged  to  discover  how  I  came  by  the  letters,  what 


682  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FKANKLIN.  [1773. 

number  of  copies  I  had  printed  and  sold,  and  to  account  with  him 
for  the  profits."  All  of  which  Franklin,  on  oath,  denied.  The  suit 
was  not  continued,  as  other  means  were  found  for  wreaking  the 
vengeance  of  the  court. 

The  town  was  filled  with  rumors  respecting  the  late  meeting  of 
the  Privy  Council.  It  was  reported  that  the  solicitor-general  had 
soundly  berated  Franklin  for  the  part  he  had  taken  in  procuring 
and  sending  the  letters.  All  the  courtiers,  Franklin  was  told,  were 
enraged  against  him,  and  clamored  for  his  punishment  and  disgrace. 
He  diligently  prepared  to  meet  the  coming  storm. 


CHAPTER    IX. 

THE   PBIVY  COUNCIL   OXgrUAGE. 

Dk.  Feanklin  was  still  willing  to  trust  his  cause  to  Mr.  BoUan. 
That  gentleman,  however,  now  shrank  from  the  encounter,  and 
urged  the  employment  of  the  most  eminent  counsel  whose  services 
could  be  obtained.  Franklin,  yielding  to  his  opinion,  placed  the 
afiair,  in  the  usual  manner,  in  the  hands  of  a  solicitor,  who  drew  up 
a  brief  of  formidable  proportions,  as  though  Hutchinson  and  Oliver 
were  to  be  put  on  trial  for  ofienses  committed  against  the  Assembly 
of  Massachusetts.  Passages  from  their  letters  were  the  only  evi- 
dence to  which  he  could  direct  the  attention  of  counsel.  The  case 
seemed  to  admit  of  no  other  evidence  that  was  procurable  in  England, 
and  to  obtain  further  testimony  from  America  there  was  not  time. 

The  brief  being  prepared,  the  next  business  was  the  selection  of 
counsel.  Sergeant  Glynn,  whose  various  defenses  of  John  Wilkes 
had  made  him  the  most  famous  barrister  in  the  world,  and,  in  Eng- 
land, a  popular  idol,  would  have  been  promptly  retained,  had  not 
an  attack  of  the  gout  rendered  it  uncertain  whether  he  would  be 
able  to  attend  on  the  appointed  day.  He  was  a  particular  friend 
of  Arthur  Lee,  whom  Dr.  Franklin  regarded  more  as  a  colleague 
than  a  successor.  Lee  was  a  frequenter  of  the  Wilkes  coterie ;  he 
was  one  of  the  company  at  the  celebrated  dinner  when  Dr.  Johnson 
was  entrapped  into  sitting  at  table  with  "  Jack  Wilkes ;"  who  won 


AGED    68.]  THE    PRIYY    COUNCIL    OUTRAGE.  683 

the  heart  of  the  old  toiy  by  his  roast  veal  and  ready  wit.*  Glynn 
being  out  of  the  question,  Franklin's  choice  fell  upon  John  Dun- 
ning, afterward  Lord  Ashburton,  a  man  of  liberal  politics,  and  of 
the  first  eminence  in  his  profession.  He  was  considered  the  ugliest 
man  then  practicing  at  the  English  bar.  Wraxall  says  of  him : 
*'  Never,  perliaps,  did  nature  inclose  a  more  illuminated  mind  in  a 
body  of  meaner  and  more  abject  appearance.  It  is  difficult  to  do 
justice  to  the  peculiar  species  of  ugliness  which  characterized  his 
person  and  figure,  although  he  did  not  labor  under  any  absolute 
deformity  of  shape  or  limb.  A  degree  of  infirmity,  and  almost 
of  debility  or  decay  in  his  organs,  augmented  the  efiect  of  his  other 
bodily  misfortunes.  Even  his  voice  was  so  husky  and  choked  with 
phlegm,  that  it  refused  utterance  to  the  sentiments  which  were  dic- 
tated by  his  superior  intelligence.  In  consequence  of  this  physical 
impediment,  he  lay  always  under  the  necessity  of  involuntarily  an- 
nouncing his  intention  to  address  the  house  some  time  before  he 
actually  rose,  by  the  repeated  attempts  which  he  made  to  clear  his 
throat.  But  all  these  imperfections  and  defects  of  configuration 
were  obliterated  by  the  ability  which  he  displayed.  In  spite  of  the 
monotony  of  his  tones  and  his  total  want  of  animation,  as  well  as 
grace,  yet  so  powerful  was  reason  when  flowing  from  his  lips,  that 
every  murmur  became  hushed,  and  every  ear  attentive." 

Dunning,  too,  was  the  original  hero  of  an  anecdote  which  has 
since  been  related  of  almost  every  great  pleader.  Lord  Eldon 
wrote,  in  his  Anecdote  Book :  "  I  had,  very  early  after  I  was  called 
to  the  bar,  a  brief  as  junior  to  Mr.  Dunning.  He  began  the  argu- 
ment, and  appeared  to  me  to  be  reasoning  very  powerfully  against 
our  client.  Waiting  till  I  was  quite  convinced  that  he  had  mistaken 
for  what  party  he  was  retained,  I  then  touched  his  arm,  and,  upon 
his  turning  his  head  toward  me,  I  whispered  to  him  that  he  must 
have  misunderstood  by  whom  he  was  employed,  as  he  was  reason- 
ing against  our  client.  He  gave  me  a  very  rough  and  rude  repri- 
mand for  not  having  sooner  set  him  right,  and  then  proceeded  to 
state,  that  what  he  had  addressed  to  the  court  was  all  that  could  be 
stated  against  his  client,  and  that  he  had  put  the  case  as  unfavor- 
ably as  possible  against  him,  in  order  that  the  court  might  see  how 
very  satisfactorily  the  case  against  him  could  be  answered,  and, 

*  Correspondence  of  John  Wilkes,  ir.,  S&l. 


iJ84  LIFE   AND  TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l774. 

accordingly,  very  powerfully  answered  what  he  had  before  stated."* 
It  was  Dunning  also,  who,  when  asked  how  he  got  through  so 
much  business,  replied :  "  I  do  one-third  of  it,  another  third  does 
itself,  and  the  remaining  third  remains  undone." 

As  junior  to  Mr.  Dunning,  was  employed  that  jovial  barrister 
whom  his  companions  styled  "  Jack  Lee,"  and  his  clients  "  honest 
John  Lee,"  a  dissenter  and  a  whig,  afterwards  solicitor-general 
under  Mr.  Fox.  He  was  not  the  most  profound  of  lawyers,  but 
possessed  a  vigorous  understanding,  an  admirable  temper,  and  con- 
siderable eloquence.  He  was  a  favorite  of  bar,  bench,  and  clients, 
and  was  noted  for  his  friendly  zeal  in  aiding  and  encouraging  the 
younger  members  of  his  profession.  This  amiable  character  is 
assigned  him  even  by  Lord  Eldon,  the  most  unflinching  of  tories. 

Dr.  Franklin  had  the  advantage  of  his  opponents  both  in  the 
standing  and  the  talents  of  his  counsel.  "Wedderburn,  young  in 
years,  new  to  the  London  bar,  of  little  learning  and  small  ability, 
owed  his  rapid  advancement  in  his  profession  to  the  favor  of  Lord 
North,  of  whose  party  he  was  a  zealous  and  unscrupulous  supporter 
in  Parliament.  He  had  what  is  called  "  a  talent  for  invective."  To 
say  that  a  man  has  a  talent  for  invective  is  to  say  that  he  has  very 
little  talent.  Greediness  and  ill-nature  sometimes  enable  a  man  of 
ordinary  ability  to  startle  and  amaze  an  audience  by  the  force  of 
his  malignant  rhetoric ;  and  this  the  easier,  when  he  addresses 
those  who  are  already  inflamed  against  the  object  of  his  attack. 
Such  a  speaker  has  not  the  honorable  scruples,  not  the  sympathetic 
understanding,  not  the  power  to  comprehend  a  character  in  its 
wholeness,  not  the  self-knowledge,  not  the  knowledge  of  mankind 
and  of  human  life,  which  compel  all  men  of  minds  truly  superior  to 
censure,  if  they  censure  at  all,  with  charitable  moderation.  Wed- 
derburn, like  many  other  tories  of  that  bad  time,  was  subjected  to 
a  temptation  too  powerful  for  average  human  nature  to  resist.  The 
real  sinner  was  the  System  which  kept  a  man  like  George  HL  at 
the  head  of  a  nation  like  England.  Given  such  a  man  in  such  a 
place,  and  there  will  always  be  found  Mansfields,  Wedderburns, 
Germains,  Jenkinsons,  Addingtons,  and  Eldons  to  do  his  work  and 
take  his  wages. 

Mr.  Dunning,  upon  one  important  point,  set  Dr.  Franklin's  mind 

*  Life  of  Lord  Eldon,  vol.  i.,  Chap.  t. 


AGED    G8.]  THE   PRIVY   COUNCIL   OUTRAGE.  585 

at  rest.  Before  receiving  the  famous  letters,  he  had  bound  himself 
not  to  divulge  the  name  of  the  friend  who  brought  them  to  him ; 
and  this  promise  it  was  now  more  important  than  ever  to  keep. 
Political  ruin,  and  worse,  awaited  the  man  who  should  be  known 
to  have  been  instrumental  in  placing  the  letters  in  the  hands  of  the 
agent  of  the  Massachusetts  Assembly.  Mr.  Dunning  informed  Dr. 
Franklin  that  he  could  not  be  lawfully  compelled  to  answer  the 
questions  which  Wedderburn  had  threatened  to  ask,  and  he  would 
himself  object  to  such  questions  being  proposed.  He  said,  how- 
ever, that  the  evidence  detailed  in  the  brief  would  be  of  little  use, 
because  the  opposing  counsel  would  claim  that  the  quoted  passages 
described  the  condition  of  the  province  truly,  and  the  agent  of  the 
Assembly  was  not  prepared  to  disprove  the  assertion.  Moreover, 
the  sentiments  contained  in  the  letters  which  the  colonists  thought 
so  atrocious,  would  be  regarded  by  the  Privy  Council  as  highly 
judicious  and  praiseworthy.  He  advised,  therefore,  that  the  quoted 
passages  should  not  be  brought  forward,  but  that  counsel  should 
confine  themselves  to  proving  that  the  governor  and  lieutenant- 
governor  had  become  odious  to  the  people;  so  odious,  that  it  was 
for  the  interest  of  Government  to  remove  them.  This  plan  of  pro- 
cedure was  finally  adopted,  and  the  brief  set  aside.  — 

A  building  called  the  Cockpit  was  the  place  at  which  the  Privy 
Council  were  then  accustomed  to  meet.  The  apartment  assigned 
them  was  not  larger  than  an  ordinary  drawing-room  in  a  great 
house,  and  was  built  in  draw^ing-room  style.  There  was  an  open 
fire-place  at  one  end,  with  the  usual  recess  on  each  side  of  the 
chimney.  A  long  table  extended  from  a  point  near  the  fire  to  the 
opposite  end  of  the  room ;  at  which  the  members  of  the  Council 
sat,  with  the  Lord  President  at  the  head.  All  other  persons  present 
stood  during  their  sessions,  no  matter  how  protracted  they  might  be. 
Petitioners,  clients,  counsel,  old  men,  young  men,  women,  all  re- 
mained standing  in  the  presence  of  a  body  which  was  supposed  to 
represent  the  authority  and  majesty  of  the  king. 

On  the  morning  of  the  appointed  day  the  official  world  at  the 
west  end  of  London  was  all  astir.  Never  before  had  there  beeu 
such  a  concourse  of  lords  in  the  chamber.  Thirty-five  members  of 
the  Privy  Council  attended,  a  number  which  Mr.  Burke  said  was 
vdthout  precedent  in  his  recollection.  The  Lord  President  Gower 
was  in  his  place.  Lord  North,  the  Premier,  was  there,  with  most 
25* 


686  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FEANKXIN.  [l774. 

of  his  colleagues.  The  Archbishop  of  Canterbury  attended. 
Americans  and  members  of  the  Opposition  were  present  in  con- 
siderable numbers :  Lord  Shelburne,  Mr.  Burke,  Arthur  Lee, 
Ralph  Izard,  Dr.  Bancroft,  and  the  barristers  Mr.  Dunning  and 
John  Lee.  Israel  Manduit  attended  on  behalf  of  his  friends,  Hutch- 
inson and  Oliver.  Jeremy  Bentham,  not  yet  the  absent,  short- 
sighted, shambling  old  man  we  read  of,  but  young,  alert,  and 
eager,  contrived  to  get  into  the  room.  Chance  procured  admission 
for  Dr.  Priestley  also.  He  happened  to  meet  Mr.  Burke  that 
morning  in  Parliament  Street,  when  Mr.  Burke  asked  him  where 
he  was  going.  "  I  can  tell  you  where  I  wish  to  go,"  said  Priestley ; 
"  to  the  Privy  Council ;  but  I  am  afraid  I  cannot  get  admission." 
Burke  offering  his  assistance,  they  went  together  to  the  Cockpit. 
"  When  we  got  to  the  ante-room,"  records  Dr.  Priestley,  "  we  found 
it  quite  filled  with  persons  as  desirous  of  getting  admission  as  our- 
selves. Seeing  this,  I  said  we  should  never  get  through  the 
crowd.  He  said,  "  Give  me  your  arm  ;'  and,  locking  it  fast  in  his, 
he  soon  made  his  way  to  the  door  of  the  Privy  Council.  I  then 
said,  '  Mr.  Burke,  you  are  an  excellent  leader.'  He  replied,  '  I 
wish  other  persons  thought  so  too.'  After  waiting  a  short  time 
the  door  of  the  Privy  Council  opened,  and  we  entered  the  fi,rst ; 
when  Mr.  Burke  took  his  stand  behiud  the  first  chair  next  the 
^^J'resident,  and  I  behind  that  next  to  his." 

Dr.  Franklin  stood  in  one  of  the  recesses  formed  by  the  chimney, 
where  he  remained  during  the  session,  motionless  and  silent.  He 
wore  the  flowing  wig,  which  was  still  the  mode  among  elderly 
gentlemen.  His  dress  was  a  uniform  suit  of  the  material  then 
called  Manchester  velvet,  spotted.  "  He  stood,"  says  an  eye-wit- 
ness, "  conspicuously  erect,  without  the  smallest  movement  of  any 
part  of  his  body.  The  muscles  of  his  face  had  been  previously 
composed,  so  as  to  afford  a  placid,  tranquil  expression  of  counte- 
nance, and  he  did  not  suffer  the  slightest  alteration  of  it  to  appear." 

The  proceedings  began.  First,  the  attending  clerk  read  Dr. 
Franklin's  letter  to  Lord  Dartmouth,  inclosing  the  Assembly's 
petition ;  next,  the  petition  itself;  then,  the  resolutions  of  the  As- 
sembly ;  and  lastly,  the  letters  upon  which  those  resolutions  were 
founded.  Wedderburn,  who  stood  in  a  place  of  honor  near  the 
right  hand  of  the  Lord  President,  interposed  no  objection,  and 
asked  none  of  the  questions  he  had  announced.     Mr.  Dunning  then 


AGED  68.]        THE  PEIVY  COUNCIL  OUTRAGE.  587 

spoke.  He  was  not  well,  and  his  voice  was  more  than  usually  husky 
and  feeble,  but  he  spoke  ably  and  impressively.  No  cause,  said  he,  has 
been  instituted,  no  prosecution  was  intended.  The  petition  charged 
no  crime,  and  brought  no  accusation.  The  Assembly  did  not  come 
before  the  throne  demanding  justice  ;  they  appealed  to  the  wisdom 
and  goodness  of  their  sovereign ;  they  asked  a  favor,  which  the 
king  could  grant  or  refuse.  As  the  Assembly  had  no  impeachment 
to  make,  so  they  had  no  evidence  to  offer.  Mr.  John  Lee  followed 
in  a  similar  strain.  "  Both  gentlemen,"  says  Franklin,  "  acquitted 
themselves  very  handsomely,"  and  Mr.  Burke  told  the  Marquis  of 
Rockingham  that  Mr.  Dunning's  point  was  "  well  and  ably  put." 

Wedderburn  then  addressed  the  council.  He  spoke  at  great 
length,  and  with  the  energy  of  a  bold,  bad  man  who  saw  a  coronet 
glittering  in  the  eager  eyes  of  the  magnates  whom  he  addressed. 

He  began,  as  advocates  generally  begin,  by  magnifying  the  im- 
portance of  his  case.  The  question  involved,  he  said,  was  no  less 
than  this  :  Whether  the  Crown  should  ever  have  it  in  its  power  to 
employ  a  faithful  and  steady  servant  in  the  administration  of  a 
colony ;  a  question  well  worthy  the  attendance  and  the  attention  of 
so  great  a  number  of  lords  and  of  so  large  an  audience.  He  proceed- 
ed, next,  to  declare  that  Governor  Hutchinson  had  shown  himself 
eminently  faithful  and  steady.  In  appointing  him  to  the  governor- 
ship of  Massachusetts,  "his  majesty's  choice  followed  the  wishes  of 
his  people ;  and  no  other  man  could  have  been  named  whom  so 
many  favorable  circumstances  ^concurred  to  recommend.  A  native 
of  the  country,  whose  ancestors  were  among  its  first  settlers.  A 
gentleman,  who  had  for  many  years  presided  in  their  Law  Courts ; 
of  tried  integrity ;  of  confessed  abilities ;  and  who  had  long  employed 
those  abilities,  in  the  study  of  their  history  apd  original  constitution." 

The  orator  then  sketched  the  history  of  Governor  Hutchinson's 
administration,  and  averred  that  his  conduct,  so  far  from  being  cen- 
surable, was  praiseworthy  in  a  high  degree  ;  he  had  been  moderate, 
patient,  and  patriotic.  Nay,  the  petition  of  the  Assembly  itself 
contained  no  charge  against  him.  There  was  in  truth  no  cause  to 
try,  there  was  no  accusation,  no  accuser,  no  proof.  The  members 
of  the  Assembly  simply  say  that  they  dislike  the  governor  and  lieu- 
tenant-governor, who  ought  to  be  dismissed  "  because  they  have  lost 
the  confidence  of  those  who  complain  against  them."  "  My  lords," 
said  Wedderburn,  "  if  such  a  man,  without  their  attempting  to  allegxi 


688  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [1774. 

one  single  act  of  misconduct  during  the  four  years  in  which  he  has 
been  governor,  is  to  be  borne  down  by  the  mere  surmises  of  this  Ad- 
dress, it  must  then  become  a  case  of  still  greater  magnitude,  and  ever 
be  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  the  colony  shall  henceforward  pay  re- 
spect to  any  authority  derived  from  this  country." 

The  speaker  continued  to  laud  and  magnify  the  immaculate 
Hutchinson  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  He  then  turned  upon 
Dr.  FraokUn,  and  devoted  three  quarters  of  an  hour  to  the  main 
object  of  his  oration ;  which  was  to  render  the  name  of  Franklin 
infamous  throughout  the  world.  His  leading  points  were:  1.  That 
the  whole  of  the  misunderstanding  between  Hutchinson  and  the 
Assembly  was  caused  by  Dr.  Franklin's  officious  interference ;  2. 
That  the  letters  were,  in  the  fullest  sense  of  the  word,  private  letters ; 
3d.  That  they  must  have  been  stolen  by  Dr.  Franklin ;  4.  That  Dr. 
Franklin's  motive  was  to  become  himself  governor  of  Massachu- 
setts. 

"  The  whole  of  this  address,"  said  Wedderburn,  "  rests  upon  the 
foundation  of  these  letters,  written  before  the  time  when  either  of 
these  gentlemen  were  possessed  of  the  offices  from  which  the  As- 
sembly now  ask  their  removal.  They  owe,  therefore,  all  the  ill  will 
which  has  been  raised  against  them,  and  the  loss  of  that  confidence 
which  the  Assembly  themselves  acknowledge  they  had  heretofore 
enjoyed,  to  Dr.  Franklin's  good  office  in  sending  back  these  letters 
to  Boston.  Dr.  Franklin,  therefore,  stands  in  the  light  of  the  first 
mover  and  prime  conductor  of  this  whole  contrivance  against  his 
majesty's  two  governors;  and  having,  by  the  help  of  his  own 
special  confidents  and  party  leaders,  first  made  the  Assembly  his 
agents  in  carrying  on  his  own  secret  designs,  he  now  appears  before 
your  lordships  to  give  the  finishing  stroke  to  the  work  of  his  own 
hands." 

Wedderburn  dwelt  much  upon  the  alleged  private  character  of 
the  letters,  and  made  the  most  of  the  few  lines  in  one  or  two  of 
them  which  did  contain  an  allusion  to  private  matters.  Those  pas- 
sages related  merely  to  the  hospitality  shown  by  Whately  to  certain 
friends  of  the  writers,  and  thanked  him  for  that  hospitality. 

But  it  was  in  elucidating  his  third  point,  the  alleged  stealing  of 
the  letters,  that  the  speaker  was  most  savage.  ''  How  these  letters,'* 
said  he,  "  came  into  the  possession  of  any  one  but  the  right  owners, 
is  a  mystery  for  D;*.  Franklin  to  explain.    They  who  know  the 


AGED   68.]  THE   PKIVY   COUNCIL   OUTRAGE.  589 

affectionate  regard  which  the  Whatelys  had  for  each  other,  and  the 
tender  concern  they  felt  for  the  honor  of  their  brother's  memory, 
as  well  as  their  own,  can  witness  the  distress  which  this  occasioned. 
My  lords,  the  late  Mr.  Whately  was  most  scrupulously  cautious 
about  his  letters.  We  lived  for  many  years  in  the  strictest  in- 
timacy ;  and  in  all  those  years  I  never  saw  a  single  letter  written  to 
him.  These  letters,  I  believe,  were  in  his  custody  at  his  death ; 
and  I  as  firmly  believe,  that  without  fraud  they  could  not  have 
been  got  out  of  the  custody  of  the  pei'son  whose  hands  they  fell 
into.  His  brothers  little  wanted  this  additional  aggravation  to  the 
loss  of  him.  The  letters,  I  say,  could  not  have  come  to  Dr.  Frank- 
lin by  fair  means.  The  writers  did  not  give  them  to  him ;  nor  yet 
did  the  deceased  correspondent,  who  from  our  intimacy  would 
otherwise  have  told  me  of  it.  Nothing,  then,  will  acquit  Dr. 
Franklin  of  the  charge  of  obtaining  them  by  fraudulent  or  corrupt 
means  for  the  most  malignant  purposes,  unless  he  stole  them  from 
the  person  who  stole  them.  This  argument  is  irrefragable.  I  hope, 
my  lords,  you  will  mark  and  brand  the  man,  for  the  honor  of  this 
country,  of  Europe,  and  of  mankind.  Private  correspondence  has 
hitherto  been  held  sacred  in  times  of  the  greatest  party  rage,  not 
only  in  politics  but  religion.  He  has  forfeited  all  the  respect  of 
societies  and  of  men.  Into  what  companies  will  he  hereafter  go 
with  an  unembarrassed  face,  or  the  honest  intrepidity  of  virtue  ? 
Men  will  watch  him  with  a  jealous  eye;  they  will  hide  their  pa- 
pers from  him,  and  lock  up  their  escritoirs.  He  will  henceforth 
esteem  it  a  Hbel  to  be  called  a  man  of  letters  ;  this  man  of  three 
letters.* 

"Your  lordships  know  the  train  of  mischiefs  which  followed. 
Wherein  had  my  late  worthy  friend  or  his  family  offended  Dr. 
Franklin,  that  he  should  first  do  so  great  an  injury  to  the  memory 
of  the  dead  brother,  by  secreting  and  sending  away  his  letters :  and 
then,  conscious  of  what  he  had  done,  should  keep  himself  concealed, 
till  he  had  nearly,  very  nearly,  occasioned  the  murder  of  the  other? 
After  the  mischiefs  of  this  concealment  had  been  left  for  five  months 
to  have  their  full  operation,  at  length  comes  out  a  letter,  which  it 
is  impossible  to  read  without  horror,  expressive  of  the  coolest  and 

*  Wedderburn  alludes  here  to  the  old  Koman  play  upon  the  word/«r,  a  thief.    Plautas  speaka 
of  a  thief  as  "trium  littcrarum  homo"  a  man  of  three  letters. 


590  LIFE   AI^^D   TIMES    OF   BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [l7V4. 

most  deliberate  malevolence.  My  lords,  what  poetic  fiction  only 
had  penned  for  the  breast  of  a  cruel  African,  Dr.  Franklin  has 
realized,  and  transcribed  from  his  own.  His,  too,  is  the  language 
of  a  Zanga : 

"  '  Know  then  'twas 1. 

Zforg'd  the  letter — i'dispos'd  the  picture — 
T  hated,  i"despis'd,  and  Z  destroy.'  " 

Turning  from  this  branch  of  the  subject,  the  speaker  descanted 
upon  the  corrupt  motives,  the  ambition,  the  pride,  of  Dr.  Franklin. 
He  spoke  sneeringly  of  the  usual  mention  in  the  newspapers  of 
Franklin's  arrivals  and  departures,  as  though  he  were  a  great  diplo- 
matic character.  His  mind,  said  Wedderburn,  seemed  to  be  so 
full  of  the  idea  of  a  Great  American  Republic,  that  he  slid  easily 
into  the  language  of  a  minister  of  an  independent  power.  "A  for- 
eign embassador,"  he  continued,  "when  residing  here,  just  before 
the  breaking  out  of  a  war,  or  upon  particular  occasions,  may  bribe 
a  villain  to  steal  or  betray  any  state  papers ;  he  is  under  the  com- 
mand of  another  state,  and  is  not  amenable  to  the  laws  of  the  coun- 
try where  he  resides ;  and  the  secure  exemption  from  punishment 
may  induce  a  laxer  morality.  But  Dr.  FrankUn,  whatever  he  may 
teach  the  people  at  Boston,  while  he  is  Acre,  at  least,  is  a  subject; 
and  if  a  subject  injure  a  subject,  he  is  answerable  to  the  law.  And 
the  Court  of  Chancery  will  not  much  attend  to  his  new  self-created 
importance." 

Again :  "  The  letters  from  Boston  for  two  years  past  have  inti- 
mated that  Dr.  Franklin  was  aiming  at  Mr.  Hutchinson's  govern- 
ment. It  was  not  easy  before  this  to  give  credit  to  such  surmises. 
But  nothing  surely  but  a  too  eager  attention  to  an  ambition  of  this 
sort,  could  have  betrayed  a  wise  man  into  such  conduct  as  we  have 
now  seen.  Whether  these  surmises  are  true  or  not,  your  lordships 
are  much  the  best  judges.  If  they  should  be  true,  I  hope  that  Mr. 
Hutchinson  will  not  meet  with  the  less  countenance  from  your  lord- 
ships for  his  rivaVs  being  his  accuser.  Nor  will  your  lordships,  I 
trust,  from  what  you  have  heard,  advise  the  having  Mr.  Hutchin- 
son displaced,  in  order  to  make  room  for  Dr.  Franklin  as  a  suc- 
cessor." 

From  Dr.  Franklin  the  speaker  turned  to  the  constituents  of  Dr. 


AGED    68.]  THE   PRIVY   COUNCIL   OUTRAGE.  591 

Franklin,  the  patriots  of  Massachusetts.  His  remarks  upon  thena 
were  considered  very  witty  and  amusing  at  the  time.  "  Was  it," 
he  asked,  ''  to  prevent  the  pernicious  effect  of  the  letters,  that  the 
good  men  of  Boston  have  lately  held  their  meetings,  appointed 
their  Committees,  and  with  their  usual  moderation  destroyed  the 
cargo  of  three  British  ships  ?  If  an  English  Consul,  in  any  part 
of  France  or  Spain,  or  rather  Algiers  or  Tripoli  (for  European 
powers  respect  the  law  of  nations),  had  not  called  this  an  outrage 
on  his  country,  he  would  have  deserved  punishment.  But  if  a 
Governor  at  Boston  should  presume  to  whisper  to  a  friend,  that  he 
thinks  it  somewhat  more  than  a  moderate  exertion  of  English  lib- 
erty, to  destroy  the  ships  of  England,  to  attack  her  officers,  to 
plunder  their  goods,  to  pull  down  their  houses,  or  even  to  burn  the 
king's  ships  of  war,  he  ought  to  be  removed  ;  because  such  con- 
duct in  him  has  a  natural  and  efficacious  tendency  to  interrupt  the 
harmony  between  Great  Britain  and  the  Colony^  which  these  good 
subjects  are  striving  by  such  means  to  establish." 

Wedderburn  concluded  his  harangue  with  a  passage  which  ex- 
cited in  the  minds  of  his  American  hearers  the  profoundest  disgust. 
"  On  the  part  of  Mr.  Hutchinson  and  Mr.  Oliver,"  he  said,  "  I  am 
instructed  to  assure  your  lordships,  that  they  feel  no  spark  of  re- 
sentment, even  at  the  individuals  who  have  done  them  this  injus- 
tice. Their  private  letters  breathe  nothing  but  moderation.  They 
are  convinced  that  the  people,  though  misled,  are  innocent.  If  the 
conduct  of  a  few  should  provoke  a  just  indignation,  they  would  be 
the  most  forward,  and,  I  trust,  the  most  efficacious  solicitors  to 
avert  its  effects,  and  to  excuse  the  men.  They  love  the  soil,  the 
constitution,  the  people  of  New  England  ;  they  look  with  reverence 
to  this  country,  and  with  affection  to  that.  For  the  sake  of  the 
people  they  wish  some  faults  corrected,  anarchy  abolished,  and 
government  re-established.  But  these  salutary  ends  they  wish  to 
promote  by  the  gentlest  means,  and  the  abridging  of  no  liberties 
which  a  people  can  possibly  use  to  its  own  advantage.  A  restraint 
from  self-destruction  is  the  only  restraint  they  desire  to  be  imposed 
upon  New  England." 

Such  was  the  speech  of  the  king's  solicitor-general  on  this  mem- 
orable occasion.  At  least,  this  is  as  correct  an  abstract  of  it  as  can 
now  be  obtained,  for  the  printed  copy,  published  a  few  days  after 
its  delivery,  from  which  these  extracts  are  taken,  was  far  less  inde- 


592  LIFE   AND  TIMES   OF  BENJAMIN  FRANKLIN.  [17*74. 

cent  than  the  speech  as  delivered.  The  government  shrank  from 
exhibiting  to  the  world  its  worst  passages. 

The  manner  of  the  orator,  we  are  told,  was  as  outrageous  as  the 
language  which  he  uttered.  "I  was  not  more  astonished,"  says 
Jeremy  Bentham,  "at  the  brilliancy  of  his  lightning,  than  as- 
tounded by  the  thunder  that  accompanied  it.  As  he  stood,  the 
cushion  lay  on  the  council  table  before  him ;  his  station  was  be- 
tween the  seats  of  two  of  the  members,  on  the  side  of  the  right 
hand  of  the  Lord  President.  I  would,  not  for  double  the  greatest 
fee  the  orator  could  on  that  occasion  have  received,  been  in  the 
place  of  that  cushion;  the  ear  was  stunned  at  every  blow;  he  had 
been  reading  perhaps  in  that  book  in  which  the  prince  of  Roman 
orators  and  rhetoric  professors  instructs  his  pupils  how  to  make 
impression.  *  *  *  'j«l^^  table  groaned  under  the  assault." 
"  Alone,  in  the  recess  on  the  left  hand  of  the  president,  stood  Ben- 
jamin Fi-anklin,  in  such  position  as  not  to  be  visible  from  the  situa- 
tion of  the  president,  remaining  the  whole  time  like  a  rock,  in  the 
same  posture,  his  head  resting  on  his  left  hand ;  and  in  that  atti- 
tude abiding  the  pelting  of  the  pitiless  storm." 

Dr.  Priestley  has  recorded  the  demeanor  of  the  auditors :  "  At 
the  sallies  of  his  sarcastic  wit,  all  the  members  of  the  council,  the 
president  himself  not  excepted,  frequently  laughed  outright.  No 
person  belonging  to  the  council  behaved  with  decent  gravity,  ex- 
cept Lord  North,  who,  coming  late,  took  his  stand  behind  the  chair 
opposite  to  me."  And  Franklin  himself  says :  "  Not  a  single  lord 
adverted  to  the  impropriety  and  indecency  of  treating  a  public 
messenger  in  so  ignominious  a  manner,  who  was  present  only  as 
the  person  delivering  your  petition,  with  the  consideration  of  which 
no  part  of  his  conduct  had  any  concern.  If  he  had  done  a  wrong 
in  obtaining  and  transmitting  the  letters,  that  was  not  the  tribunal 
where  he  was  to  be  accused  and  tried.  The  cause  was  already  be- 
fore the  Chancellor.  Not  one  of  their  lordships  checked  and  re- 
called the  orator  to  the  business  before  him,  but,  on  the  contrary, 
a  very  few  excepted,  they  seemed  to  enjoy  highly  the  entertain- 
ment, and  frequently  burst  out  in  loud  applauses." 

The  Americans  and  their  friends  were  deeply  moved  at  the  out- 
rage. Burke  speaks  of  Wedderburn  as  "  laying  on,  beyond  all 
bounds  and  decency,"  upon  "  poor  Dr.  Franklin."  Lord  Shelburne 
wrote  to  the  Earl  of  Chatham  that  the  solicitor-general's  "most 


AGED  68.]        THE  PKIVT  COUNCIL  OUTKAGE.  593 

scurrilous  invective"  was  encouraged  by  the  judges,  "the  inde- 
cency of  whose  behavior  exceeded,  as  is  agreed  on  all  hands,  that 
of  any  committee  of  elections."  That  hot-blooded  Carolinian, 
Ralph  Izard,  afterwards  said :  "  When  Dr.  Franklin  was  so  un- 
mercifully bespattered  by  Wedderburn,  I  sat  upon  thorns;  and 
had  it  been  me  that  was  so  grossly  insulted,  I  should  instantly 
have  repelled  the  attack,  in  defiance  of  every  consequence."  Arthur 
Lee  wrote:  "The  insult  was  oifered  to  the  people  through  their 
agent ;  and  the  indecent  countenance  given  to  the  scurrilous  solici- 
tor by  the  members  of  the  Privy  Council,  was  at  once  a  proof  of 
the  malignity  and  meanness  of  their  resentment."  The  mild  Dr. 
Priestley  was  so  much  oifended,  that  when  Wedderburn  advanced 
to  speak  to  him,  he  turned  his  back  upon  him  and  hurried  out  of 
the  room.  >^<^ 

Having  concluded  his  speech,  Wedderburn  announced  his  readi- 
ness to  examine  Dr.  Franklin  as  a  witness.  Mr.  Dunning  said  that 
Dr.  Franklin  declined  being  questioned.  He  proceeded  in  a  scarce- 
ly audible  tone,  for  he  was  exhausted  with  standing  three  hours,  to 
reply  to  the  speech  of  the  solicitor-general.  His  remarks  were 
totally  ineffective,  and  John  Lee,  who  followed,  was  equally  un- 
able to  stem  the  tide  of  ill  feeling  which  had  set  against  their  client. 
Wedderburn's  triumph  was  complete.  o 

The  report  of  the  Committee  of  the  Council,  dated  on  the  very 
day  of  this  sitting,  and  probably  prepared  before,  declared,  that  the 
resolutions  of  the  Assembly  were  "  inflammatory  and  precipitate ;" 
that  the  letters,  private  and  confidential,  had  been  "  surreptitiously 
obtained ;"  that  they  contained  "  nothing  reprehensible"  or  un- 
worthy of  the  writers.  "The  Lords  of  the  Committee  do  agree 
humbly  to  report,  as  their  opinion,  to  your  majesty,  that  the  said 
petition  is  founded  upon  resolutions  formed  upon  false  and  errone- 
ous allegations ;  and  that  the  same  is  groundless,  vexatious,  and 
scandalous;  and  calculated  only  for  the  seditious  purposes  of  keep- 
ing up  a  spirit  of  clamor  and  discontent  in  the  said  province.  And 
the  Lords  of  the  Committee  do  further  humbly  report  to  your 
majesty,  that  nothing  has  been  laid  before  them  which  does  or  can, 
in  their  opinion,  in  any  manner,  or  in  any  degree,  impeach  the 
honor,  integrity,  or  conduct  of  the  said  governor  or  lieutenant-gov- 
ernor; and  their  lordships  are  humbly  of  opinion  that  the  said 
petition  ought  to  be  dismissed."    Whereupon,  "  his  majesty,  taking 


594  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN  FEANKLIN.  [1774. 

the  said  report  into  consideration,  was  pleased,  with  the  advice  of 
his  Privy  Council,  to  approve  thereof;  and  to  order,  that  the  said 
petition  of  the  House  of  Representatives  of  the  Province  of  Massa- 
chusetts Bay  be  dismissed  the  Board,  '  as  groundless,  vexatious, 
and  scandalous ;  and  calculated  only  for  the  seditious  purpose  of 
keeping  up  a  spirit  of  clamor  and  discontent  in  the  said  province.'  " 

The  council  rose.     Dr.  Franklin,  his  countenance  still  unruffled, , 
left  the  apartment.     As  he  passed  Dr.  Priestley  he  took  him  by  the 
hand,  as  ^hough  he  would  say,  I  am  silent,  but  you  know  what  I 
must  feel.     Wedderburn,  as  they  went  by  him,  was  surrounded  by  a 
crowd  of  applauding  friends.     Franklin  went  home   alone.     The 
next  morning,  which  was  Sunday,  Dr.  Priestley  breakfasted  with 
him  at  Craven  Street,  where  Dr.  Franklin  said,  "  that  he  had  never 
before  been  so  sensible  of  the  power  of  a  good  conscience ;  for  that, . 
if  he  had  not  considered  the  thing  for  which  he  had  been  so  much  > 
insulted,  as  one  of  the  best  actions  of  his  life,  and  what  he  should  I 
certainly  do  again  in  the  same  circumstances,  he   could  not  have 
supported  it."     On  Monday  morning  Dr.  Bancroft  was  with  him 
at  an  early  hour.     Franklin  handed  him  a  letter,  which  he  said  he 
had  just  received.     It  was  from  the  Postmaster-general,  informing' 
him  in  brief,  official  language,  that  the  king  had  "found  it  neces- 
sary" to  dismiss  him  from  the  office  of  deputy  postmaster-general 
in  America. 

In  transmitting  an  account  of  these  violent  proceedings  to  his 
constituents  in  Massachusetts,  he  commented  upon  them  with  mod- 
eration and  good  temper.  He  admitted  that  he  had  felt  some  re- 
sentment at  the  public  outrage.  *'  But,"  he  added,  *'  what  I  feel  om 
my  own  account  is  half  lost  in  what  I  feel  for  the  public.  When  II 
see  that  all  petitions  and  complaints  of  grievances  are  so  odious  to 
government,  that  even  the  mere  pipe  which  conveys  them  becomes- 
obnoxious,  I  am  at  a  loss  to  know  how  peace  and  union  are  to  be 
maintained  and  restored  between  the  different  parts  of  the  empire. 
Grievances  cannot  be  redressed  unless  they  are  known ;  and  they 
cannot  be  known  but  through  complaints  and  petitions.  If  these 
are  deemed  affronts,  and  the  messengers  punished  as  offenders,  who' 
will  henceforth  send  petitions  ?  And  who  will  deliver  them  ?  It 
has  been  thought  a  dangerous  thing  in  any  state  to  stop  up  the  vent 
of  griefs.  Wise  governments  have  therefore  generally  received  pe- 
titions with  some  indulgence,    even  when  but   slightly  founde 


1 


iGED    68.]  THE   PEIVT   COrNCIL    OUTEAGE.  696 

Those  who  think  themselves  injured  by  their  rulers,  are  sometimes, 
3y  a  mild  and  prudent  answer,  convinced  of  their  error.  But  where 
jomplaining  is  a  crime,  hope  becomes  despair." 

Narratives  of  the  affair  soon  appeared  in  the  American  newspa- 
3ers,  and  portions  of  the  speech  of  Wedderburn.  Letters  from 
London  informed  the  people  that  the  Lords  of  tlie  Council  went  to 
heir  chamber  as  to  a  bull-baiting,  and  hounded  on  the  solicitor-gen- 
iral  with  loud  applause  and  laughter.  It  was  also  said,  and  said 
with  truth,  that  the  dismissal  of  Dr.  Franklin  was  equivalent  to  a 
seizure  of  the  American  post-office ;  that  only  creatures  of  the  min- 
istry were  to  be  appointed  postmasters  ;  and  that  it  was  no  longer 
safe  to  trust  the  letters  of  patriotic  Americans  to  the  mails.  So 
generally  were  private  arrangements  made  for  carrying  letters,  that 
the  American  post-office,  which,  under  Dr.  Franklin's  management, 
had  yielded  three  thousand  pounds  a  year  to  the  British  treasury, 
never  again  contributed  to  it  one  farthing.  In  the  streets  of  Phila- 
delphia, Wedderburn  and  Hutchinson  were  carried  about  in  effigy, 
followed  by  a  great  concourse  of  people,  and  at  night  were  burnt, 
as  Mr.  Reed  records,  "  with  the  usual  ceremonies,  amidst  the  accla- 
mations of  the  multitude."  "  Nothing  can  exceed^"  he  adds,  "the 
veneration  in  which  Dr.  FrankHn  is  now  held,  but  the  detestation 
we  have  of  his  enemies."  Governor  Hutchinson  found  it  impossi- 
ble to  endure  the  abhorrence  of  his  countrymen.  He  soon  resigned 
his  office  and  retired  to  England,  where  he  danced  attendance  at 
court  for  a  while,  and  then  subsided  into  obscurity.  A  pension  was 
granted  him,  barely  sufficient  for  his  decent  maintenance,  upon 
which  he  lived  a  few  unhappy  years,  and  died  forgotten  in  Eng- 
land, in  America  execrated. 

Wedderburn  acquired  great  glory  by  his  oration.  It  was  the 
talk  of  the  clubs ;  it  was  the  applause  of  all  the  tory  world.  Mr. 
Fox  said  that  "  all  men  tossed  up  their  hats  and  clapped  their  hands  i 
in  boundless  delight"  at  it.  A  few  years  later  we  find  this  pertj 
and  shallow  Scotchman  a  peer  and  a  judge,  and,  finally,  an  earl  and 
lord  chancellor.  But  he  fares  ill  in  the  books  relating  to  that  period; 
no  author  so  poor  to  do  him  reverence.  Lord  Brougham  dismisses 
him  thus :  "  Wedderburn's  professional  and  political  life,  which 
rolled  on  in  an  uninterrupted  tide  of  worldly  gain  and  worldly  hon- 
ors, was  advanced  only  by  shining  and  superficial  talents,  supported 
by  no  fixed  principle,  illustrated  by  no  sacrifices  to  pubhc  virtue, 


596  LIFE    AND   TIMES    OP   BENJAMIN   FRANKLIN.  [l774. 

embellished  by  no  feats  of  patriotism,  nor  made  memorable  by  any 
monuments  of  national  utility ;  and,  being  at  length  closed  in  the 
disappointment  of  mean,  unworthy  desires,  ended  amidst  universal 
neglect,  and  left  behind  it  no  claim  to  the  respect  or  the  gratitude 
of  mankind,  though  it  may  have  excited  the  admiration  or  envy  of 
the  contemporary  vulgar." 

The  king  despised  him  at  last,  and  refused  him  audience.  "  When 
he  died,"  says  Lord  Brougham,  "  after  a  few  hours'  illness,  the  in- 
telligence was  brought  to  the  king,  who,  with  a  circumspection 
abundantly  characteristic,  asked  the  bearer  of  it  if  he  was  quite 
sure  of  the  fact,  as  Lord  Rosslyn  had  not  been  ailing  before ;  and, 
upon  being  assured  that  a  sudden  attack  of  gout  in  the  stomach 
had  really  ended  the  days  of  his  late  servant  and  once  assiduous 
courtier,  his  majesty  was  graciously  ])leased  to  exclaim,  *  Then  he 
has  not  left  a  worse  man  behind  him.'  "  In  other  words.  Lord  Ross- 
lyn had  gone  over  to  the  Fox  party,  and  obtained  the  woolsack 
through  their  irresistible  nomination. 

The  packet  of  letters  which  caused  so  much  excitement  and 
tribulation,  were  returned  to  London  in  June,  1773.  Samuel 
Adams  inclosed  them  in  a  letter  to  Arthur  Lee,  through  whom 
they  reached  Dr.  Franklin.  The  name  of  the  person  from  whom 
they  had  been  originally  obtained  remains  a  secret  to  this  day.  It 
was  probably  never  known  but  to  Dr.  Franklin ;  and  no  man  could 
keep  a  secret  better  than  he.  Conjecture  has  frequently  pointed  to 
David  Hartley,  a  liberal  member  of  parliament,  a  warm  friend  of 
Franklin  and  the  American  cause  from  1765  to  the  end  of  the 
revolution.  The  other  rumors,  traditions,  assertions,  and  guesses 
relating  to  this  matter,  with  which  the  newspapers  and  pamphlets 
of  that  day  abound,  need  not  be  revived,  for  they  are  all  false  or 
extremely  improbable.  Mr.  Temple  succeeded  in  convincing  the 
ministry  of  his  innocence;  he  reappears  in  the  history  of  the  time, 
in  a  lucrative  employment,  as  Sir  John  Temple. 

The  reader,  I  presume,  does  not  doubt  that  the  conduct  of  Dr. 
Franklin  in  this  affair,  in  every  part  of  it,  was  precisely  what  it 
should  have  been.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  so  fair-minded  a  per- 
son as  Earl  Russell  should  have  inconsiderately  said  that  it  is  "  im- 
possible to  justify  the  conduct  of  Franklin."*     His  conduct  needs 

*  "Memoirs  of  Charles  James  Fox,"  by  Earl  Eussell,  vol.  i.,  book  HI. 


&-GED   68.]  THE   PRIVY   COUNCIL   OUTEAGE.  597 

10  justification.  The  simple  statement  of  the  facts  justifies  him. 
The  remark  of  Mr.  Bancroft  upon  this  subject  is  fine  and  suflicient : 
'*  Had  the  conspiracy  which  was  thus  laid  bare,  aimed  at  the  life 
jf  a  minister  or  the  king,  any  honest  man  must  have  immediately 
communicated  the  discovery  to  the  Secretary  of  State  ;  to  conspire 
to  introduce  into  America  a  military  government,  and  abridge 
American  liberty,  was  a  more  heinous  crime,  of  which  irrefragable 
evidence  had  now  come  to  light."* 

History  will  record,  in  due  time,  one  event  similar  in  character, 
in  motive,  and  in  consequences,  to  the  outrage  upon  Dr.  Franklin 
and  his  constituents,  in  the  Privy  Council  of  King  George  HI.  I  re- 
fer to  the  assault  upon  Charles  Sumner  in  the  Senate  Chamber  of 
the  United  States,  by  the  South  Carolinian  Brooks,  with  the  frantic 
applause  of  the  slavery-debauched  portion  of  his  fellow-citizens. 
Southern  boys  called  their  favorite  dogs  by  the  name  of  Brooks ;  I 
have  heard  them  doing  it  in  South  Carolina.  He  was  received  at 
home  as  a  conqueror  coming  from  a  campaign  which  had  saved  his 
country.  A  costly  monument  covers  his  remains.  Charles  Sumner, 
j  when  he  became  the  victim  of  this  man's  drunken  fury,  was  the 
representative  of  principles  which  alone  were  capable  of  preventing 
the  barbarizing  or  the  disruption  of  his  country.  He  was  a  pure 
and  honest  patriot,  in  accord  with  his  country's,  best  instincts  and 
convictions,  which  he  was  accustomed  to  express  with  dignity  and 
moderation.  Different  as  the  two  characters  are  in  themselves,  it 
is  nevertheless  true  that  Charles  Sumner,  in  some  important  particu- 
lar, was  to  the  United  States,  in  1857,  what  Benjamin  Franklin  was 
to  the  British  empire  of  1774 ;  both  being  radical  in  re,  but  constitu- 
tional in  modo ;  Franklin  too  loyal  for  Samuel  Adams  ;  Sumner  too 
moderate  for  Wendell  Philips.  A  like  outrage  having  fallen  upon 
both  these  representative  men,  we  see  all  that  was  bigoted  and 
mercenary  in  England  applauding  the  insult  to  Franklin,  and  all 
that  was  brutal  and  savage  in  America  exulting  over  the  assault 
upon  Sumner. 

Let  the  world,  then,  take  note  of  what  befalls  those  nations 
which  assign  to  their  Socrates  hemlock,  to  their  Jeremiahs  miry 
pits,  to  their  Franklins  a  Wedderburn,  to  their  Sumners  a  bludgeon, 
to  theii*  Turgots   dismission  and   obscurity.     Such  nations  may 

♦  History  of  the  United  States,  vi.,  486. 


698  LIFE   AND   TIMES    OP    BENJAMIN    FRANKLIN.  [ill 4. 

escape  destruction,  escape  dismemberment,  escape  revolution,  be- 
cause there  may  be  in  the  people  a  vast  sum  of  renovating  virtue ; 
but  they  escape  only  by  means  of  disasters  the  most  prodigious 
and  humiliating.  The  American  revolution  followed  quick  upon 
this  scene  in  the  Privy  Council ;  quicker  even  than  the  slaveholders' 
rebellion  upon  that  of  the  Senate  Chamber.  At  this  time,  April, 
1862,  it  is  not  yet  decided  whether  the  United  States  is  to  be  saved 
by  being  dismembered,  or  saved  without  it. 

Horace  Walpole's  epigram  upon  Wedderburn  and  Franklin,  well- 
known  as  it  is,  may  serve  to  conclude  this  chapter : 

"  Sarcastic  Sawney,  swol'n  with  spite  and  prate, 
On  silent  Franklin  poured  his  venal  hate. 
The  calm  philosopher,  without  reply. 
Withdrew,  and  gave  his  country  liberty." 


APPENDIX 


APPENDIX  I 

FIRST  PROCEEDINGS  AGAINST  JAMES  FRANKLIN. 

Me.  Edwaed  Eveeett  appends  to  his  well-known  Address  upon  the 
Boyhood  and  Youth  of  Franklin,  a  valuable  note  in  relation  to  the  prose- 
cution of  James  Franklin.  He  derived  his  information  from  the  manuscript 
records  of  the  General  Court  of  Massachusetts  for  June,  1722. 

"In  the  month  of  May,  1722,"  says  Mr.  Everett,  "a  piratical  vessel  ap- 
peared off  Block  Island,  and  made  some  captures.  Information  of  this  event 
was  sent  by  the  governor  of  Rhode  Island  to  Governor  Shute  at  Boston,  and 
by  him  communicated  to  the  Council  on  the  7th  of  June.  The  report  was 
that  a  pirate  brigantine  of  two  great  guns  and  four  swivel  guns,  and  of  fifty 
men,  was  off  the  coast,  and  had  captured  several  vessels.  In  the  defense- 
less state  of  the  American  coasts  and  waters,  this  was  an  event  well  calcu- 
lated to  cause  alarm,  though  not  one  of  infrequent  occurrence. 

"  The  news  from  Rhode  Island  was  immediately  referred  to  a  joint  com- 
mittee of  the  Council  and  House  of  Representatives,  who  reported  on  the 
same  day,  '  that  it  would  be  of  service  to  the  government,  and  of  security 
to  trade,  that  a  large  sloop  of  seventy  or  eighty  tons,  or  some  other  suita- 
ble vessel,  should  he  immediately  impressed  and  manned  with  one  hundred 
men,  and  suitable  officers  to  command  the  same,  to  be  equipped  with  six 
great  guns,  and  a  sufiicient  quantity  of  all  warlike  stores,  offensive  and 
defensive,  with  provisions  suitable  for  the  said  number  of  men  for  one 
month,  cruise  between  the  capes  or  elsewhere,  where  the  captain-general 
shall  see  cause  to  go  in  quest  of  a  pirate  brigantine  expected  to  be  on  our 
coast,  or  any  other  vessel  that  they  shall  suspicion  of.' 

"  This  report  was  forthwith  adopted ;  the  same  committee  was  instructed 
to  carry  its  recommendations  into  effect ;  and  the  tr^surer  was  ordered  to 
furnish  the  necessary  supplies. 

"  No  time  seems  to  have  been  lost  in  executing  these  measures,  for  we 
find  from  the  records  of  the  court,  that  on  the  next  day  (8th  June,  1722) 
the  House  of  Representatives  passed  the  following  resolve : 

"  '  Whereas  this  Court  has  resolved  that  a  suitable  vessel  manned  with  a 
hundred  men,  to  be  well  furnished  and  equipped  with  all  warlike  stores, 
offensive  and  defensive,  shall  be  dispatched  and  sent  out  with  all  possible 


602  APPENDIX. 

expedition,  to  reduce  and  suppress  a  piratical  brigantine  now  infesting  our 
coast, — for  the  encouragement  of  that  expedition  under  Peter  Papillon, 

"  '  Voted,,  That  the  captors  shall  be  entitled  to  the  piratical  vessel  thej 
shall  tsike,  and  all  the  goods,  wares,  and  merchandises  that  shall  be  found 
on  board,  belonging  to  the  pirates,  so  far  as  is  consistent  with  the  acts  of 
Parliament  in  such  case  made  and  provided. 

"  '  And  for  further  encouragement,  that  they  be  paid  out  of  the  public 
treasury  the  sum  of  ten  pounds  per  head  for  every  pirate  killed,  or  that 
shall  be  taken,  by  them,  convicted  of  piracy,  and  shall  also  be  entitled  to 
the  common  wages  of  the  port ;  and  in  case  any  man  on  board  shall  be 
maimed  or  wounded  in  engaging,  fighting,  or  repelling  the  pirates,  he  shall 
be  entitled  to  a  bounty  suitable  to  the  wounds  he  or  they  shall  receive,  to 
be  allowed  and  paid  out  of  the  public  treasury  of  this  province.' 

"It  seems  from  these  resolutions  that  a  certain  Captain  Peter  Papillon, 
at  that  time  outward  bound  for  Barbadoes,  had  been  immediately  engaged 
to  command  the  vessel  sent  out  against  the  pirates,  which  was  named,  as 
appears  from  subsequent  proceedings,  the  'Plying  Horse.' 

"  On  the  9th  of  June  the  sum  of  one  hundred  pounds  was  ordered  to  be 
advanced  to  Captain  Papillon,  to  be  paid  to  his  men  on  account  of  their 
wages.  On  the  same  day  a  petition  was  presented  to  the  General  Court 
by  Philip  Bunker  and  others,  praying  '  that  they  may  be  allowed  to  pro- 
ceed on  their  fishing,  and  call  at  Nantucket  as  they  go  along,  to  give  intel- 
ligence of  the  pirate ;  notwithstanding  tlie  embargo.'' 

"  As  it  does  not  appear  from  the  records  of  the  court  that  any  embargo 
was  laid ;  as  no  notice  of  any  embargo  appears  in  the  Courant  for  this 
week,  but,  on  the  contrary,  vessels  appear  to  have  cleared  out  as  usual  at 
the  custom-house,  this  petition  of  Philip  Bunker  needs  further  explanation. 

"On  Monday,  June  11th,  in  the  Courant  which  appeared  that  day,  there 
was  an  article  dated  Newport,  Rhode  Island,  June  7th,  containing  an  ac- 
count of  the  appearance  of  the  pirate  oif  Block  Island,  and  of  the  prompt 
steps  taken  at  Newport  to  send  out  two  vessels  to  cruise  against  him.  The 
article  then  concludes  with  this  remark : 

" '  We  are  advised  from  Boston,  that  the  government  of  Massachusetts 
are  fitting  out  a  ship  to  go  after  the  pirates,  to  be  commanded  by  Captain 
Peter  Papillon,  and  it  is  thought  he  will  sail  sometime  this  month,  wind  and 
weather  permitting.^ 

"  The  same  paper,  under  the  Boston  head,  announced  that  above  a  hun- 
dred men  had  been  enlisted,  and  that  the  vessel  would  probably  sail  that 
day. 

"But  the  insinuation  of  tardiness  in  the  conclusion  of  the  pretended  arti- 
cle from  Rhode  Island,  seems  to  have  been  taken  in  very  ill  part.  On  the 
12th  of  June  the  following  singular  proceedings  were  had  in  the  General 
Court : 


APPENDIX. 


603 


"Tuesday,  12th  June,  1772. 
" '  Present  in  Council,  His  Excellency  Samuel  Shute,  Esq.,  Governor. 


William  Tayloe, 
Samuel  Sewall, 
Penn  Townsend, 
Nathaniel  Norden, 
Add.  Davenpokt, 
Thomas  Hutchinson, 
Thomas  Fitch, 
Edmund  Quincy, 
Adam  Winthkop, 
JoNA.  Belcheb, 


Esqrs. 


Isaac  Winslow, 
Edwaed  Bromfield, 
John  Gushing, 
Benjamin  Lynde, 
Jonathan  Dowse, 
Paul  Dudley, 
Samuel  Thaxtee, 
Charles  Frost, 
Spenoee  Phips, 


'  Esqrs. 


" '  In  Council,  the  Board  having  before  them  a  paper  called  the  ITew  Eng- 
land Courant,  of  the  date  of  June  11th,  1772,  and  apprehending  that  a 
paragraph  therein,  said  to  be  written  from  Ehode  Island,  contains  matter 
of  reflection  on  this  Government, 

"  '  Ordered,  That  the  publisher  of  said  paper  be  forthwith  sent  for  to 
answer  for  the  same,  and  accordingly  James  Franklyn,  of  Boston,  Printer, 
was  sent  for,  examined,  and  owned  he  had  published  the  said  paper. 

"  '  In  Council,  the  Board  having  had  consideration  of  a  paragraph  in  a 
paper  called  the  New  England  Courant,  published  on  Monday  last,  rela- 
ting to  the  fitting  out  a  ship  here  to  proceed  against  the  pyrates,  and  having 
examined  James  Franklyn,  printer,  who  acknowledged  himself  the  publisher 
thereof,  and  finding  the  said  paragraph  to  be  founded  on  a  letter,  pretended 
by  the  said  Franklyn  to  be  received  from  Ehode  Island, 

"  *  Resolved,  That  the  said  paragraph  is  a  high  affiront  to  this  govern- 
ment. 

"  '  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  read  and  concurred,  and 

"  ^Resolved,  That  the  Sheriff  of  the  county  of  Suffolk  do  forthwith  com- 
mit to  the  goal  in  Boston  the  body  of  James  Franklyn,  printer,  for  the 
gross  affront  offered  to  this  government  in  the  Courant  of  Monday  last. 

"  '  In  Council,  read  and  concurred  ;  consented  to  [by  the  governor.]' 

*'In  virtue  of  this  resolution  James  Franklyn  was  arrested  under  a 
speaker's  warrant,  and  confined  in  the  stone  jail. 

"  This  summary  power  of  punishing  persons  deemed  guilty  of  contempts, 
though  perhaps  now  exercised  for  the  first  time  in  America  in  a  matter  per- 
taining to  the  liberty  of  the  press,  was  borrowed  from  the  parliamentary 
law  of  England,  where  it  is  not  obsolete.  Pending  these  proceedings 
against  Franklin,  three  '  Bridgewater  men'  were  imprisoned  in  the  same 
way,  for  obstructing  the  surveyors  appointed  to  run  a  boundary  line  under 
an  order  of  the  General  Court. 

"The  records  of  the  General  Court  contain  the  following  entry  the  next 
week  : 


604  APPENDIX. 

<"Iii  Oonncil,  20tli  June,  1772,  a  petition  of  James  Frankljn,  printer, 
humbly  shewing,  that  he  is  truly  sensible  and  heartily  sorry  for  the  offence 
he  has  given  to  this  court  in  the  late  Gourant^  relating  to  the  fitting  out  of 
a  ship  by  the  government,  and  truly  acknowledges  his  inadvertency  and 
folly  therein  in  affronting  the  government,  as  also  his  indiscretion  and  in- 
decency when  before  the  court,  for  all  which  he  intreats  the  court's  forgive- 
ness, and  praying  a  discharge  from  the  stone  prison  where  he  is  confined 
by  order  of  the  court,  and  that  he  may  have  the  liberty  of  the  yard,  he 
being  much  indisposed  and  suffering  in  his  health  by  the  said  confinement, 
a  certificate  of  Dr.  Zabdiel  Boylston  being  offered  with  the  said  petition. 

"  '  In  the  House  of  Representatives,  read,  and 

"  '  Yoted^  That  James  Franklyn,  now  a  prisoner  in  the  stone  goal,  may 
have  the  liberty  of  the  prison  house  and  yard,  upon  his  giving  security  for 
his  abiding  there. 

"  '  In  Council,  read  and  concurred,  consented  to, 

"  Samuel  Shtite." 

"  An  attempt  was  made  in  the  Council  to  follow  up  their  blow  by  an 
order  which  passed  that  body,  providing  that  '  no  such  weekly  paper  [as 
the  Oourant]  be  hereafter  printed  or  published,  without  the  same  be  first 
perused  and  allowed  by  the  Secretary,  as  has  leen  usuaV  This  order,  how- 
ever, was  not  at  this  time  concurred  in  by  the  House."* 

A  few  months  later,  as  the  reader  is  aware,  an  order  of  this  nature  was 
issued ;  but  as  it  was  limited  in  its  operation  to  James  Franklin,  he  con- 
trived, with  the  assistance  of  his  apprentice,  to  evade  it. 


APPEl^DIX  11. 

FRAN"KLIN'S    PAMPHLET. 


The  following  is  a  copy  of  the  pamphlet  written  and  printed  by  Benjamin 
Franklin,  in  his  nineteenth  year,  w^hen  he  was  a  journeyman  printer,  in 
London.  The  original  (of  which  a  fac  simile  has  been  placed  by  me  in  the 
library  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society)  is  an  excellent  specimen  of  the 
printing  of  that  day.  The  reader  will,  perhaps,  conclude  that,  at  nineteen, 
Franklin  was  a  better  printer  than  philosopher. 

*  Orations  and  Speeches,  ii.,  p.  43. 


DISSERTATION 


LIBERTY  AND  NECESSITY, 

PLEASUEE   AND   PAIN. 


"Whatever  is,  is  in  its  Causes  just, 
Since  all  Things  fire  by  Fate ;  but  purblind  Man 
Sees  but  a  part  o'  th'  Chain,  the  nearest  Link, 
His  Eyes  not  carrying  to  the  equal  Beam 
That  poises  all  above." 

Dbtd. 


LONDON: 
PRINTED  IN  THE  YEAR  MDCCXXV. 


APPENDIX.  60/ 


A  DISSERTATION 


ON 


LIBERTY  AND  NECESSITY,  ETC. 

TO  MR.  J.  R. 

SiE :  I  have  here,  according  to  your  Eequest,  given  you  my  present 
Thoughts  of  the  general  State  of  Things  in  the  Universe.  Such  as  they  are, 
you  have  them,  and  are  welcome  to  'em  ;  and  if  they  yield  you  any  Pleasure 
or  Satisfaction,  I  shall  think  my  Trouble  sufficiently  compensated.  I  know 
ray  Scheme  will  be  liable  to  many  Objections  from  a  less  discerning  Eeader 
than  yourself;  but  it  is  not  design'd  for  those  who  can't  understand  it.  I 
need  not  give  you  any  Caution  to  distinguish  hypothetical  Parts  of  the  Ar- 
gument from  the  conclusive.  You  will  easily  perceive  w^hat  I  design  for 
Demonstration,  and  what  for  Probability  only.  The  whole  I  leave  entirely 
to  you,  and  shall  value  myself  more  or  less  on  this  account,  in  proportion 
to  your  Esteem  and  Approbation. 

Section  I. — Of  Libekty  and  Neoessitt. 

I.  There  is  said  to  le  a  First  Mover^  who  is  called  God,   MaTcer  qf  the 

Universe. 

II.  He  is  said  to  ie  all-wise,  all-good,  all-powerful. 

These  two  Pi  opositions  being  allow'd  and  asserted  by  People  of  almost 
every  Sect  and  Opinion ;  I  have  here  suppos'd  them  granted,  and  laid  them 
down,  as  the  Foundation  of  my  Argument.  What  follows  then,  being  a 
Chain  of  Consequences  truly  drawn  from  them,  will  stand  or  fall  as  they 
are  true  or  false. 

III.  If  He  is  all-good,  whatsoever  He  doth  mimt  le  good. 

IV.  If  He  is  all-wise,  whatsoever  He  doth  must  he  wise. 

The  Truth  of  these  Propositions,  with  relation  to  the  two  first,  I  think 
may  be  justly  call'd  evident;  since,  either  that  infinite  Goodness  will  act 
what  is  ill,  or  infinite  Wisdom  what  is  not  wise,  is  too  glaring  a  Contradic- 
tion not  to  be  perceiv'd  by  any  Man  of  common  sense,  and  deney'd  as  soon 
as  understood. 


608  APPENDIX. 

Y.  If  He  is  all-powerful,  there  can  he  nothing  either  existing  or  acting 
under  the  Universe  against  or  without  his  Consent;  and  what  He  consents 
to  must  he  good,  hecause  He  is  good,  therefore  Evil  doth  not  exist. 
Unde  Malum  f  has  been  long  a  Question,  and  many  of  the  Learned  have 
perplex'd  themselves  and  Readers  to  little  Purpose  in  Answer  to  it.  That 
there  are  both  Things  and  Actions  to  which  we  give  the  Name  of  Evil, 
is  not  to  be  deney'd,  as  Pain,  Sickness,  Want,  Theft,  Murder,  &c.,  but  that 
these  and  the  like  are  not  in  reality  Evils,  Ills,  or  Defects  in  the  Order  of 
the  Universe,  is  demonstrated  in  the  next  Section,  as  well  as  by  this  and 
the  following  Proposition.  Indeed,  to  suppose  any  Thing  to  exist  or  to  be 
done,  contrary  to  the  Will  of  the  Almighty,  is  to  suppose  him  not  Al- 
mighty ;  or  that  Something  (the  Cause  of  Evil)  is  more  mighty  than  the 
Almighty ;  an  Inconsistence  that  I  think  no  one  will  defend ;  And  to  deny 
any  Thing  or  Action,  which  he  consents  to  the  existence  of,  to  be  good,  is 
entirely  to  destroy  his  two  Attributes  of  Wisdom  and  Goodness. 

There  is  nothing  done  in  the  Universe,  say  the  Philosophers,  hut  what 
God  either  does,  or  permits  to  he  done.  This,  as  He  is  Almighty,  is  certainly 
true.  But  what  need  of  this  Distinction  between  doing  and  permitting  ? 
Why,  first  they  take  it  for  granted  that  many  Things  in  the  Universe  exist 
in  such  a  Manner  as  is  not  for  the  best,  and  that  many  Actions  are  done 
which  ought  not  to  be  done,  or  would  be  better  undone ;  these  Things  or 
Actions  they  cannot  ascribe  to  God  as  His,  because  they  have  already  at- 
tributed to  Him  infinite  Wisdom  and  Goodness ;  Here  then  is  the  Use  of 
the  Word  Permit;  'Rq permits  ihava  to  be  done,  say  they.  But  we  will 
reason  thus  :  If  God  permits  an  Action  to  be  done,  it  is  because  He  wants 
either  Power  or  Inclination  to  hinder  it ;  in  saying  he  wants  Power,  we 
deny  him  to  be  Almighty  ;  and  if  we  say  He  wants  Inclination  or  Will, 
it  must  be  either  because  He  is  not  Good,  or  the  Action  is  not  evil,  (for  all 
Evil  is  contrary  to  the  Essence  of  infinite  Goodness.)  The  former  is  incon- 
sistent with  his  before-given  Attribute  of  Goodness,  therefore  the  latter 
must  be  true. 

It  will  be  said,  perhaps,  that  God  permits  evil  Actions  to  he  done,  for 
wise  Ends  and  Purposes.  But  this  objection  destroys  itself;  for  whatever 
an  infinitely  good  God  hath  wise  ends  in  suff'ering  to  he  must  be  good,  is 
thereby  made  good,  and  cannot  be  otherwise. 

VI.  If  a  Grea.ture  is  made  hy  God,  it  must  depend  upon  God,  and  receive 
all  its  Power  from  him  ;  icith  ichich  power  the  Creature  can  do  nothing  i 
contrary  to  the  will  of  God,  hecause  God  is  Almighty  ;  what  is  not  con- 
trary to  His  will,  must  he  agreeahle  to  it,  must  he  good,  hecause  He  is 
Good  ;  therefore  a  creature  can  do  nothing  hut  what  is  good. 

This  proposition  is  much  to  the  same  purpose  with  the  former,  but  more 
particular ;  and  its  conclusion  is  as  just  and  evident.     Tho'  a  creature  may 


APPENDIX.  609 

do  many  Actions  which  by  his  Fellow  Creatures  will  be  nam'd  Evil^  and 
which  will  naturally  and  necessarily  cause  or  bring  upon  the  Doer,  certain 
Paim  (which  will  likewise  be  call'd  Punishments,)  yet  this  Proposition 
proves,  that  he  cannot  act  what  will  be  in  itself  111  or  displeasing  to  God. 
And  that  the  painful  consequences  of  his  evil  Actions  (so  call'd)  are  not  as 
indeed  they  ought  not  to  be,  Punishments  or  Unhappinesses,  will  be  shewn 
hereafter. 

Nevertheless,  the  late  learned  Author  of  The  Religion  of  Nature,  (which 
I  send  you  herewith)  has  given  a  rule  or  Scheme,  whereby  to  discover 
which  of  our  Actions  ought  to  be  esteemed  and  denominated  good,  and 
which  Bvil :  It  is  in  short  this,  "  Every  Action  which  is  done  according  to 
"  Truth,  is  good ;  and  every  Action  contrary  to  Truth  is  evil.  To  act  accord- 
"ing  to  truth  is  to  use  and  esteem  everything  as  what  it  is,  &c.  Thus  if  A 
"  steals  a  Horse  from  B  and  rides  away  upon  him,  he  uses  him  not  as  what 
"he is  in  Truth,  viz.,  the  Property  of  another,  but  as  his  own,  which  is 
"  contrary  to  Truth,  and  therefore  Bvil.^^  i3ut  as  this  Gentleman  himself 
says,  (Sect.  I.  Prop.  VI.)  "  In  order  to  judge  rightly  what  any  Thing  is, 
"  it  must  be  considered,  not  only  what  it  is  in  one  Respect  but  also  what  it 
"may  be  in  any  other  Respect;  and  the  whole  Description  of  the  Thing 
"  ought  to  be  taken  in."  So  in  this  case  it  ought  to  be  consider'd  that  A 
is  naturally  a  covetous  Being,  feeling  an  Uneasiness  in  the  want  of  J5's 
Horse,  which  produces  an  Inclination  for  stealing  him,  stronger  than  his 
Fear  of  Punishment  for  so  doing.  This  is  Truth  likewise,  and  A  acts  ac- 
cording to  it  when  he  steals  the  Horse.  Besides,  if  it  is  prov'd  to  be  a 
Truth,  that  A  has  not  Power  over  his  own  Actions,  it  will  be  indisputable 
that  he  acts  according  to  Truth,  and  impossible  he  should  do  otherwise. 

I  would  not  be  understood  by  this  to  encourage  or  defend  Theft ;  'tis 
only  for  the  sake  of  the  Argument,  and  will  certainly  have  no  ill  Effect. 
The  Order  and  Course  of  Things  will  not  be  affected  by  Reasoning  of  this 
Kind ;  and  'tis  as  just  and  necessary,  and  as  much  according  to  Truth,  for 
B  to  dislike  and  punish  the  Theft  of  his  Horse,  as  it  is  for  A  to  steal  him. 

VII.  If  the  Creature  is  thus  limited  in  his  Actions,  being  able  to  do  only 
such  Things  as  God  would  hate  him  do,  and  not  being  able  to  refuse 
doing  what  God  would  have  done ;  then  he  can  have  no  such  Thing  a« 
lAherty^  Free-will  or  Power  to  do  or  refrain  an  Action. 

By  Liberty  is  sometimes  understood  the  Absence  of  Opposition ;  and  in 
this  sense,  indeed,  all  our  Actions  may  be  said  to  be  the  Effects  of  our 
Liberty.  But  it  is  a  Liberty  of  the  same  Nature  with  the  Fall  of  a  heavy 
Body  to  the  Ground;  it  has  Liberty  to  fall,  that  is,  it  meets  with  nothing 
to  hinder  its  fall,  but  at  the  same  time  it  is  necessitated  to  fall,  and  has  no 
Power  or  Liberty  to  remain  suspended. 

But  let  us  take  the  Argument  in  another  View,  and  suppose  ourselves  to 


610  APPEXDIX. 

be,  in  the  common  sense  of  the  word,  Free  Agents,  As  Man  is  a  Part  of 
this  great  Machine,  the  Universe,  his  regular  Acting  is  requisite  to  the  regu- 
lar moving  of  the  whole.  Among  the  many  things  which  lie  before  him 
to  be  done,  he  may,  as  he  is  at  Libertr  and  his  Choice  influenced  by  nothing, 
(for  so  it  must  be,  or  he  is  not  at  Liberty)  chuse  any  one.  and  refuse  the 
rest.  Now  there  is  every  Moment  something  best  to  be  done,  which  alone 
Is  goodf  and  with  respect  to  which,  every  Thing  else  is  at  that  Time  etil. 
In  order  to  Know  which  is  best  to  be  done,  and  which  not,  it  is  requisite 
that  we  should  have  at  one  view  all  the  intricate  Consequences  of  every 
Action  with  respect  to  the  general  Order  and  Scheme  of  the  Universe, 
both  present  and.  fiitare ;  but  they  are  innumerable  and  incomprehensible 
by  any  thing  but  Omniscience.  As  we  cannot  know  these,  we  have  but 
as  one  chance  to  ten  thousand,  to  hit  on  the  right  Action ;  we  should  then 
be  perpetaally  blundering  about  in  the  Dark,  and  putting  the  Scheme  in 
Disorder ;  for  every  wrong  Action  of  a  Part,  is  a  Defect  or  Blemish  in  the 
Order  of  the  Whole.  Is  it  not  necessary  then,  that  our  Actions  should  be 
overruled  and  govem'd  by  an  all- wise  Providence  ?  How  exact  and  regu- 
lar is  every  thing  in  the  natural  "World  I  How  wisely  is  every  Part  con- 
trived. We  cannot  here  find  the  least  Defect !  Those  who  have  study'd 
the  mere  animal  and  vegetable  Creation,  demonstrate  that  nothing  can  be 
more  harmonious  and  beautiful !  All  the  heavenly  Bodies,  the  Stars  and 
Planets  are  r^ulated  with  the  utmost  wisdom  1  And  can  we  suppose  less 
Care  to  be  taken  in  the  Order  of  the  moral  than  in  the  natural  system? 
It  is  as  if  an  ingenious  Artificer,  liaving  formed  a  curious  Machine  or  Clock, 
and  put  its  many  intricate  Wheels  and  Powers  in  such  a  Dependance  on 
one  another,  that  the  whole  might  move  in  the  most  exact  Order  and  Regu- 
larity, had  nevertheless  placed  in  it  several  other  Wheels  endu'd  with  an 
independent  S^-Motum,  but  ignorant  of  the  general  Interest  of  the  Clock ; 
and  these  would  every  now  and  then  be  moving  wrong,  disordering  the 
true  Movement,  and  making  Continual  Work  for  the  Mender ;  which  might 
be  prevented  by  depriving  them  of  that  Power  of  Self-Motion,  and  placing 
them  in  a  Dependance  on  the  regular  Part  of  the  Clock. 

VnL  If  there  is  no  such  thing  as  Free-  Will  in  Creatures,  there  can  he 
neither  Merit  nor  Demerit  in  Creatures. 

IX.    And   therefore    every    Creature    must    he  equally    esteemed  hy   the 
Creator. 

These  Propositions  appear  to  be  the  necessary  Consequences  of  the 
former.  And  Certainly  no  Reason  can  be  given,  why  the  Creator  should 
prefer  in  His  Esteem  one  Part  of  His  Works  to  another,  if  with  equal  Wis- 
dom and  Goodness  He  design'd  and  created  them  all,  since  all  111  or  Defect, 
as  contrary  to  His  Xature,  is  excluded  by  His  Power.     We  wiU  sum  up  the 


APFKSDIX.  CU 

Argament  tbns,  Wlm  fiie  Obeator  fint  deogn'd  the  VnirenR,  eilhar  it 
Tras  His  Will  and  intentkHi  that  all  Things  should  exist  and  he  in  the  Man- 
ner thej  are  at  this  Tune;  or  it  was  His  Win^iej  should  be  oth^vise^  i.  e^ 
in  a  different  Kanner:  To  aaj  it  was  His  WHl  Things  should  he  otherwise 
than  thej  are,  is  to  saj  Somewhat  halh  eontradirted  His  Will,  andhroken 
His  Measmes,  whidi  is  impossible  because  ineoosistfait  wiih  IGs  Power; 
th^irfore  we  most  allow  that  all  Things  existnow  in  a  Manner  agreeable  to 
His  Win,  and  in  consequence  of  that  are  all  equaDj  Good,  and  therdore 
eqoallv  este^n'd  by  TTim 

I  proceed  now  to  shew,  that  as  all  the  Worics  of  the  Oreator  are  equaify 
esteem'd  by  Him,  so  thej  are,  as  in  Justice  thej  ought  to  be,  equally  iM^d. 

Sbctiox  n. — Of  Plkasuse  axd  'Pats. 

When,  a  Creature  it  f&rm'damd  auh^d  with  Life,  His  nppaidr  U  reeaee 
a  Capacity  of  ike  SemmUen  of^Svaaimm  or  Pain. 

Matt^.  ToKnoworbeaeBsiUeofsnffieringorheingaetednpaaislvfiM/ 
and  whatsoever  is  not  so,  amoi^  created  ThingB  is  propeKly  and  trafy 
dead. 

An  P<ttn,  and  Uneanneu  proceeds  at  first,  from  and  is  caos'd  by  awne- 
what  without  and  distinct  from  tiie  Mmd  itsdt  The  Soul  must  fint  be 
acted  upon  before  it  can  re-act^  In  the  Beginning  of  Lifincy  it  is  as  if  it 
woe  not;  it  is  not  consdons  of  its  own  Ezistenee^  till  it  has  rBeeiT*d  the 
first  S^isation  of  Pain ;  then  and  not  before^  it  begins  to  fed  itsd^  is 
roused  and  put  into  Action ;  th^  it  discoTcrs  its  Powers  and  Faculties^  and 
exerts  tbem  to  expel  the  Uneasiness  Thus  is  the  Machine  set  on  woik; 
this  is  Life.  We  are  first  moT^d  by  Pobo^  and  the  whcde  aocceeding  Goorse 
of  our  Lives  is  but  one  continn'd  Series  of  Action  with  n  Yiew  to  bo  fieed 
from  it.  Aa  feat  aa  we  have  excinded  one  HneainieaB  annflifr  appears, 
otherwise  tiie  Motimi  would  eeaseu  If  a  continual  wci^  is  not  apply*d  the 
dock  win  st<9.  AndassooaasAeAvcnaasofTrneaaineBBtoliieSoalare 
choak^d  up  or  cut  ofl^  we  are  dead,  we  tinnk  and  act  no  mote. 

XL  TM»  Unemnmae,  wiemeoer  feU,  predmeea  Bonn  U  U  froed  from  it, 

qreat  ta  exact  rroportiom  to  tkc  Uncanmcm. 

Thus  is  Pffffntrnrtf  the  first  Spring  and  Game  of  All  Action;  fer  till  we 
are  uneasy  in  Best,  we  can  hscve  no  Dedre  of  moving^  tibere  can  be  no  vol- 
untary  Motion.  The  Experience  of  eveiy  Man  who  has  observed  Ida  own 
Actions  win  evince  the  TruUi  of  this;  and  I  think  notlung  need  be  aaid  to 
prove  that  the  Desire  wiU  be  equal  to  the  Paiiaiiaflii,  fer  the  very  Tluag 
impGw  as  much;  It  u  not  Unoaomom  unfeas  we  desire  to  be  fireed  firom  it 
noragreat  {^fMasiaeM  nnfeas  the  OQnsequent  Dedre  is  greaL 
2«* 


612  APPENDIX. 

I  might  here  observe,  how  necessary  a  Thing  in  the  Order  and  Design 
of  the  Universe  this  Pain  or  Uneasiness  is,  and  how  beautiful  in  its  Place ! 
Let  us  but  suppose  it  just  now  banish'd  the  World  entirely,  and  consider 
the  Consequence  of  it:  All  the  Animal  Creation  would  immediately  stand 
stock  still,  exactly  in  the  Posture  they  were  in  the  Moment  Uneasiness 
departed ;  not  a  Limb,  not  a  Finger  would  henceforth  move  ;  we  should  all 
be  reduced  to  the  Condition  of  Statues,  dull  and  unactive :  Here  I  should 

continue  to  sit  motionless  with  the  Pen  in  my  Hand  thus and  neither 

leave  ray  seat  nor  write  one  Letter  more.  This  may  appear  odd  at  first 
View,  but  a  little  Consideration  will  make  it  evident ;  for  'tis  impossible  to 
assign  any  other  Cause  for  the  voluntary  Motion  of  an  Animal  than  its  un- 
easiness in  Rest.  What  a  different  Appearance  then  would  the  Face  of 
Nature  make,  without  it !  How  necessary  is  it !  And  how  unlikely  that 
the  Inhabitants  of  the  World  ever  were,  or  that  the  Creator  ever  design'd 
they  should  be  exempt  from  it ! 

I  would  likewise  observe  here,  that  the  Ylllth  Proposition  in  the  preced- 
ing Section,  viz :  That  there  is  neither  Merit  nor  Demerit^  &c.,  is  here  again 
demonstrated,  as  infallibly,  tho'  in  another  manner:  For  since  Freedom 
from  Uneasiness  is  the  End  of  all  our  Actions,  how  is  it  possible  for  us 
to  do  any  Thing  disinterested  ?  How  can  any  Action  be  meritorious  of 
Praise  or  Dispraise,  Reward  or  Punishment,  when  the  natural  Principle  of 
Self-Lo'ce  is  the  only  and  the  irresistible  Motive  to  it  ? 

in.  This  Desire  is  always fulJilVd  or  satisfy'^d. 

In  the  Design  or  End  of  it  tho'  not  in  the  Manner.  The  first  is  requisite, 
the  latter  not.  To  exemplify  this,  let  us  make  a  Supposition ;  A  person 
is  confin'd  in  a  House  which  appears  to  be  in  imminent  danger  of  Falling, 
this,  as  soon  as  perceiv'd,  creates  a  violent  Uneasiness^  and  that  instantly 
produces  an  equal  strong  Desire^  the  End  of  which  is  freedom  from  the 
Uneasiness^  and  the  Manner  or  Way  propos'd  to  gain  this  End,  is  to  get  out 
of  the  House.  Now  if  he  is  convinc'd  by  any  Means,  that  he  is  mistaken, 
and  the  House  is  not  likely  to  fall,  he  is  immediately  freed  from  hfs  Un- 
easiness, and  the  End  of  his  Desire  is  attain'd  as  well  as  if  it  had  been  in 
the  Manner  desir'd,  viz.  :  leaving  the  House. 

All  our  different  Desires  and  Passions  proceed  from  and  are  reducible  to 
this  one  Point,  Uneasiness,  tho'  the  Means  we  propose  to  ourselves  for 
expelling  of  it  are  infinite.  One  proposes  Fa,me,  another  Wealth,  a  third 
Power,  &c.  as  tlie  Means  to  gain  this  End;  but  tho'  these  are  never  attain'd 
if  the  Uneasiness  be  removed  by  some  other  Means,  the  Desire  is  satisfy'd. 
Now  during  the  Course  of  Life  we  are  ourselves  continually  removing  ^uc- 
cessive  uneasinesses  aa  they  arise,  and  the  last  we  suffer  is  removed  by  the 
Hweet  Sleep  of  Death. 


APPENDIX.  613 

ly.   The  fulfilling  or  satisfaction  of  this  Desire^  produces  the  sensation 
of  pleasure,  great  or  small  in  exact  proportion  to  the  Desire. 

Pleasure  is  that  satisfaction  which  arises  in  the  Mind  upon,  and  is  caus'd 
by,  the  accomplishment  of  our  Desires,  and  by  no  other  Means  at  all ;  and 
those  Desires  being  above  shewn  to  be  caus'd  by  our  Pains  or  [Uneasiness, 
it  follows  that  Pleasure  is  wholly  caused  by  Fain,  and  by  no  other  Thing 

at  all. 

Y.   Therefore  the  Sensation  of  Pleasure  is  equal,  or  in  exact  proportion  to, 
the  Sensation  of  Pain. 

As  the  Desire  of  being  freed  from  Uneasiness  is  equal  to  the  Uneasiness, 
and  the  Pleasure  of  satisfying  that  Desire  equal  to  the  Desire,  the  Pleasure 
thereby  produc'd  must  necessarily  be  equal  to  the  Uneasiness  or  Pain 
which  produces  it.  Of  three  Lines  A,  B,  and  G,  if  A  is  equal  to  B,  and  B 
to  C,  0  must  be  equal  to  A.  And  as  our  Uneasinesses  are  always  remov'd 
by  some  Means  or  other,  it  follows  that  Pleasure  and  Pain  are  in  their  Na- 
ture inseparable :  So  many  Degrees  as  one  Scale  of  the  Ballance  descends,  so 
many  exactly  the  other  ascends ;  and  one  cannot  rise  or  fall  without  the 
Fall  or  rise  of  the  other.  'Tis  impossible  to  taste  of  Pleasure,  without  feel- 
ing its  preceding  proportionate  Paiii ;  or  to  be  sensible  of  Pain,  without 
having  its  necessary  Consequent  Pleasure.  The  highest  Pleasure  is  only 
Consciousness  of  Freedom  from  the  deepest  Pain,  and  Pain  is  not  Pain  to 
us  unless  we  ourselves  are  sensible  of  it.  They  go  Hand  in  Hand ;  they 
cannot  be  divided. 

You  have  a  view  of  the  whole  Argument  in  a  few  familiar  Examples. 
The  Pain  of  Abstinence  from  Food,  as  it  is  greater  or  less,  produces  a 
greater  or  less  Desire  of  Eating,  the  Accomplishment  of  this  Desire  produces 
a  greater  or  less  Pleasure  proportionate  to  it.  The  Pain  of  Confinement 
causes  the  Desire  of  Liberty  which  accomplish'd  yields  a  Pleasure  equal  to 
that  Pain  of  Confinement.  The  Pain  of  Labor  and  Fatigue  causes  the 
Pleasure  of  Rest,  equal  to  that  Pain.  The  Pain  of  Absence  from  Friends, 
produces  the  Pleasure  of  Meeting  in  exact  proportion,  &c. 

This  is  i\\Q  first  Nature  of  Pleasure  and  Pain,  and  will  always  be  found 
to  be  so  by  those  who  examine  it. 

One  of  the  most  common  Arguments  for  the  future  Existence  of  Soul,  is 
taken  from  the  generally  supposed  Inequality  of  Pain  and  Pleasure  in  the 
present ;  and  this,  notwithstanding  the  Difiiculty  by  outward  Appearances 
to  make  a  Judgment  of  another's  Happiness,  has  been  look'd  upon  as  almost 
unanswerable ;  but  since  Pain  naturally  and  infallibly  produces  a  Pleasure 
in  proportion  to  it,  every  individual  Creature  must,  in  any  State  of  Life, 
have  an  equal  Quantity  of  each,  so  that  there  is  not,  on  that  Account,  any 
Occasion  for  a  future  Adjustment. 


614  APPENDIX. 

Thus  are  all  the  Works  of  the  Creation  equally  us'd  by  him ;  And  no 
Condition  of  Life  or  Being  is  in  itself  better  or  preferable  to  another :  The 
Monarch  is  not  more  happy  than  the  Slave,  nor  the  Beggar  more  miserable 
than  Cromis.  Suppose  JL,  i?,  and  G  three  distinct  Beings ;  A  and  B  an- 
imate, capable  of  Pleasure  and  Pai7i^  G  an  inanimate  Piece  of  Matter,  in- 
sensible of  either.  A  receives  ten  Degrees  of  Pain,  which  are  necessarily 
succeeded  by  ten  Degrees  of  Pleasure;  B  receives  fifteen  of  Pain,  and 
the  consequent  equal  Number  of  Pleasure :  G  all  the  while  lies  uncon- 
cern'd,  and  as  he  has  not  suffered  the  former,  has  no  right  to  the  latter. 
What  can  be  more  equal  and  just  than  this  ?  When  the  Accounts  come  to 
be  adjusted,  A  has  no  Reason  to  complain  that  his  Portion  of  Pleasure  was 
five  Degrees  less  than  that  of  B,  for  his  Portion  of  Pain  was  five  Degrees 
less  likewise :  Nor  has  B  any  Reason  to  boast  that  his  Pleasure  was  five 
Degrees  greater  than  that  of  A,  for  his  Pain  was  proportionate.  They  are 
then  both  on  the  same  foot  with  G,  that  is,  they  are  neither  Gainers  nor 
Losers. 

It  will  possibly  be  objected  here,  that  even  common  Experience  shews 
us,  there  is  not  in  Fact  this  Equality :  "  Some  we  see  hearty,  brisk  and 
"  cheerful  perpetually,  while  others  are  constantly  burden'd  with  a  heavy 
"  Load  of  Maladies  and  Misfortunes,  remaining  for  Years  perhaps  in  Pov- 
"  erty.  Disgrace,  or  Pain,  and  die  at  last  without  any  Appearance  of  Rec- 
"  ompence."  Now  tho'  'tis  not  necessary,  when  a  Proposition  is  demon- 
strated to  be  a  general  Truth,  to  show  in  what  Manner  it  agrees  with  the 
particular  Circumstances  of  Persons,  and  indeed  ought  not  be  required ; 
yet,  as  this  is  a  common  Objection,  some  Notice  may  be  taken  of  it;  And 
here  let  it  be  observed,  that  we  cannot  be  proper  Judges  of  the  good  or  bad 
Fortune  of  Others  ;  we  are  apt  to  imagine,  that  what  would  give  us  a  great 
Uneasiness  or  a  great  Satisfaction,  has  the  same  Effect  upon  others ;  we 
think,  for  Instance,  those  unhappy,  who  must  depend  upon  Charity  for  a 
mean  Subsistence,  who  go  in  Rags,  fare  hardly,  and  are  despis'd  and  scorn'd  by 
all;  not  considering  that  Custom  renders  all  these  Things  easy,  familiar,  and 
even  pleasant.  When  we  see  Riches,  Grandeur  and  a  chearful  Countenance, 
we  easily  imagine  Happiness  accompanies  them,  when  often  times  'tis  quite 
otherwise:  Nor  is  a  constantly  sorrowful  Look,  attended  with  continual 
Complaints,  an  infallible  Indication  of  Unhappiness.  In  short,  we  can  judge 
by  nothing  but  Appearances,  and  they  are  very  apt  to  deceive  us.  Some 
put  on  a  gay,  cheerful  Outside,  and  appear  to  the  World  perfectly  at  Ease, 
tho'  even,  some  inward  Sting,  some  secret  Pain  imbitters  all  their  Joys,  and 
makes  the  Ballance  even :  Others  appear  continually  dejected  and  full  of 
Sorrow ;  but  even  grief  itself  is  sometimes  pleasant,  and  Tears  are  not 
always  without  their  sweetness :  Besides,  some  take  a  Satisfaction  in  being 
thought  unhappy,  (as  others  take  a  Pride  in  being  thought  humble,)  these 
will  paint  their  Misfortunes  to  others  in  the  strongest  Colours,  and  leave  no 


APPENDIX.  615 

Means  unus'd  to  make  you  think  them  thoroughly  miserable ;  so  great  a 
Pleasure  it  is  to  them  to  le  pitied;  Others  retain  the  form  and  outside 
Shew  of  Sorrow,  long  after  the  thing  itself,  with  its  Cause,  is  remov'd  from 
the  Mind ;  it  is  a  Habit  they  have  acquir'd  and  cannot  leave.  These,  with 
many  others  that  might  be  given,  are  Reasons  why  we  cannot  make  a  true 
Estimate  of  the  Equality  of  the  Happiness  and  Unhappiness  of  others ;  and 
unless  we  could,  Matter  of  fact  cannot  be  opposed  to  this  Hypothesis.  In- 
deed, we  are  sometimes  apt  to  think,  that  the  uneasiness  we  ourselves  have 
had,  outweigh  our  Pleasures;  but  the  Reason  is  this,  the  Mind  takes  no 
Account  of  the  latter,  they  slip  away  un-remark'd,  when  the  former  leave 
more  lasting  impressions  on  the  Memory.  But  suppose  we  pass  the  great- 
est part  of  Life  in  Pain  and  Sorrow,  suppose  we  die  by  Torments  and  thinlc 
no  more^  'Tis  no  Diminution  to  the  Truth  Of  what  is  here  advanc'd ;  for  the 
Pain,  tho'  exquisite,  is  not  so  to  the  last  Moments  of  Life,  the  Senses  are 
soon  benumm'd,  and  render'd  incapable  of  transmitting  it  so  sharply  to  the 
Soul  as  at  first ;  She  perceives  it  cannot  hold  long,  and  'tis  an  exquisite 
Pleasure  to  behold  the  immediate  Approaches  of  Rest.  This  makes  an 
Equivalent  tho'  annihilation  should  follow :  For  the  Quantity  of  Pleasure 
and  Pain  is  not  to  be  measur'd  by  its  Duration,  any  more  than  the  Quan- 
tity of  matter  by  its  extensions,  and  as  one  cubic  Inch  may  be  made  to 
contain,  by  Condensation,  as  much  Matter  as  would  fill  ten  thousand  cubic 
Feet,  being  more  expanded,  so  one  single  moment  of  Pleasure  may  out- 
weigh and  compensate  an  Age  of  Pain. 

It  was  owing  to  their  Ignorance  of  the  ITature  of  Pleasure  and  Pain  that 
the  Antient  Heathens  believ'd  the  idle  Fable  of  their  Elisium,  that  State  of 
uninterrupted  Ease  and  Happiness !  The  Thing  is  entirely  impossible  in 
Nature !  Are  not  the  Pleasures  of  the  Spring  made  such  by  the  Disagree- 
ableness  of  the  "Winter?  Is  not  the  Pleasure  of  fair  Weather  owing  to  tho 
Unpleasantness  of  foul  ?  Certainly.  "Were  it  then  always  Spring,  were  the 
Fields  always  green  and  flourishing,  and  the  weather  constantly  serene  and 
fair,  the  Pleasure  would  pall  and  die  upon  our  hands  ;  it  would  cease  to  be 
Pleasure  to  us,  when  it  is  not  usher'd  in  by  Uneasiness.  Could  the  Philoso- 
pher visit,  in  reality  every  Star  and  Planet  with  as  much  Ease  and  Swift- 
ness as  he  can  now  visit  their  Ideas,  and  pass  from  one  to  another  of  them 
in  the  Imagination ;  it  would  be  a  Pleasure  I  grant ;  but  it  would  be  only 
in  proportion  to  the  Desire  of  accomplishing  it,  and  that  would  be  no  greater 
than  the  Uneasiness  suffered  in  the  want  of  it.  The  Accomplishment  of  a 
long  and  difficult  Journey  yields  a  great  Pleasure  ;  but  if  we  could  take  a 
Trip  to  the  Moon  and  back  again,  as  frequently  and  with  as  much  Ease  as 
we  can  go  and  come  from  Market,  the  Satisfaction  would  be  just  the  same. 

The  Immateriality  of  the  Soul  has  been  frequently  made  use  of  as  an  Ar- 
gument for  its  Immortality  ;  but  let  us  consider,  that  tho'  it  should  be  al- 
io w'd  to  be  immaterial,  and  consequently  its  Parts  incapable  of  Separation 


616  APPENDIX. 

or  Destniction  by  any  Thing  material,  yet  by  Experience  we  find,  that  it  is 
not  incapable  of  Cessation  of  Thought^  whicb  is  its  Action.  When  the  Body 
is  but  a  little  indisposed  it  has  an  evident  Effect  upon  the  Mind ;  and  a 
right  Disposition  of  the  Organs  is  requisite  to  a  right  Manner  of  Thinking. 
In  a  sound  Sleep  sometimes,  or  in  a  Swoon,  we  cease  to  think  at  all ;  tho'  the 
Soul  is  not  therefore  then  annihilated,  but  exists  all  the  while  tho'  it  does 
not  act ;  and  may  not  this  be  the  Case  properly  after  Death  ?  All  our  Ideas 
are  first  admitted  by  the  Senses  and  imprinted  on  the  Brain,  increasing 
in  Number  by  Observation  and  Experience  ;  there  they  become  the  Subjects 
of  the  Soul's  Action.  The  Soul  is  a  mere  Power  or  Faculty  of  conte7nplating 
on,  and  comparing  those  Ideas  when  it  has  them ;  hence  springs  Eeason. 
But  as  it  can  tMnh  on  nothing  but  Ideas,  it  must  have  them  before  it  can 
tMnlc  at  all.  Therefore  as  it  may  exist  before  it  has  receiv'd  any  Ideas,  it 
may  exist  before  it  thinJcs.  To  remember  a  Thing,  is  to  have  the  Idea  of 
it  still  plainly  imprinted  on  the  Brain,  which  the  Soul  can  turn  to  and  con- 
template on  Occasion.  To  forget  a  Thing,  is  to  have  the  Idea  of  it  defac'd 
and  destroyed  by  some  Accident,  or  the  crowding  in  and  imprinting  of  great 
variety  of  other  Ideas  upon  it,  so  that  the  Soul  cai;inot  find  out  its  Traces 
and  distinguish  it.  When  we  have  thus  lost  the  Ideas  of  any  one  Thing,  we 
can  tJiinh  no  more,  or  cease  to  thinJCj  on  that  Thing ;  and  as  we  can  loose 
the  Idea  of  one  Thing,  so  we  may  of  ten,  twenty,  a  hundred,  Sc,  and  even 
of  all  Things,  because  they  are  not  in  their  Nature  permanent ;  and  often 
during  Life  we  see  that  some  men,  (by  an  Accident  or  Distemper  affecting 
the  Brain,)  lose  the  greatest  Part  of  their  Ideas,  and  remember  very  little 
of  their  past  Actions  and  Circumstances.  Now  upon  Death,  and  the 
Destruction  of  the  Body,  the  Ideas  contain'd  in  the  Brain,  (which  are  alone 
the  Subjects  of  the  Soul's  Action)  being  then  likewise  necessarily  destroy'd, 
the  Soul,  tho'  incapable  of  Destruction  itself,  must  then  necessarily  cease  to 
tMnlc  or  act,  having  nothing  left  to  think  or  act  upon.  It  is  reduc'd  to  its 
first  inconscious  State  before  it  receiv'd  any  Ideas.  And  to  cease  to  thinh 
is  but  little  different  from  ceasing  to  l)e. 

Nevertheless,  'tis  not  impossible  that  tliis  same  Faculty  of  contemplating 
Ideas  may  be  hereafter  united  to  a  new  Body,  and  receive  a  new  Set  of 
Ideas ;  but  that  will  no  way  concern  us  who  are  now  living ;  for  the  Iden- 
tity will  be  lost ;  it  is  no  longer  the  same  Self  but  a  new  Being. 

I  shall  here  subjoin  a  short  Recapitulation  of  the  Whole,  that  it  may  with 
all  its  Parts  be  comprehended  at  one  View. 

1.  It  is  suppos'd  that  God  the  MaTcer  and  Governour  of  the  Universe,  is 
infinitely  wise,  good  and  powerful. 

2.  In  consequence  of  His  infinite  Wisdom  and  Goodness,  it  is  asserted,  that 
whatever  He  doth  must  he  infinitely  wise  and  good  ; 

3.  Unless  He  he  interrupted,  and  His  Measures  hroTcen  hy  some  other  Be- 
ing, which  is  impossible  hecause  He  is  Almighty. 


APPEISTDEC.  617 

4.  In  consequence  of  His  infinite  Power^  it  is  asserted^  that  nothing  can 
exist  or  he  done  in  the  Universe  which  is  not  agreeable  to  His  Will,  and 
therefore  good. 

5.  Evil  is  hereby  excluded,  with  all  Merit  and  Demerit ;  and  likewise  all 
preference  in  the  Esteem  of  Ood,  of  one  Part  of  the  Creation  to  another. 
This  is  the  Summary  of  the  first  Part. 

Now  our  common  Notions  of  Justice  will  tell  us,  that  if  all  created 
Things  are  equally  esteem'd  by  the  Creator,  they  ought  to  be  equally  us'd 
by  Him  ;  and  that  they  are  therefore  equally  us'd,  we  might  embrace  for 
Truth  upon  the  Credit,  and  as  the  true  Consequence  of  the  foregoing  Argu- 
ment. Nevertheless  we  proceed  to  confirm  it,  by  shewing  how  they  are 
equally  us'd,  and  that  in  the  following  Manner. 

1.  A  Creature  when  endu''d  with  Life  or  Consciousness,  is  made  capable 
of  Uneasiness  or  Pain. 

2.  This  Pain  produces  Desire  to  be  freed  frow^  it,  in  exact  proportion  to 
itself. 

3.  The  Accomplishment  of  this  Desire  produces  an  equal  Pleasure. 

4.  Pleasure  is  consequently  equal  to  Pain. 
From  these  Propositions  it  is  observ'd 

1.  That  every  Creature  hath  as  much  Pleasure  as  Pain. 

2.  That  Life  is  not  preferable  to  insensibility,  for  Pleasure  arid  Pain  de- 
stroy one  another :  That  Being  which  has  ten  Degrees  of  Pain  subtracted 
from  ten  of  Pleasure,  has  nothing  remaining,  and  is  upon  an  equality  with 
that  Being  which  is  insensible  of  both. 

3.  As  the  first  Part  proves  that  all  Things  must  be  equally  us'd  by  the 
Creator  because  equally  esteem''d,  so  this  second  Part  demonstrates  that  they 
are  equally  esteem'' d  because  equally  us^d. 

4.  Sinxie  every  Action  is  the  Effect  of  Self-  Uneasiness,  the  Distinction  of 
Virtue  and  Vice  is  excluded;  and  Prop.  VIII.  in  Sect.  I.  again  demonstrated. 

5.  No  State  of  Life  can  be  happier  than  the  present,  because  Pleasure  and 
Pain  are  inseparable. 

Thus  both  Parts  of  this  Argument  agree  with  and  confirm  one  another, 
and  the  Demonstration  is  reciprocal. 

I  am  sensible  that  the  Doctrine  here  advanc'd,  if  it  were  to  be  publish'd, 
would  meet  with  but  an  indifferent  Reception.  Mankind  naturally  and  gen- 
erally love  to  be  flatter'd :  Whatever  sooths  our  Pride,  and  tends  to  exalt 
our  Species  above  the  rest  of  the  Creation,  we  are  pleas'd  with  and  easily 
believe,  when  ungrateful  Truths  shall  be  with  the  utmost  Indignation  re- 
jected. "  What !  bring  ourselves  down  to  an  Equality  with  the  Beasts  of 
■'the  Field!  vfMh.  t\iQ  meanest  part  of  the  Creation!  'Tis  insufferable!" 
But,  (to  use  a  Piece  of  common  Sense)  our  Geese  are  but  Oeese  tho'  we  may 
think  'em  Swans  ;  and  Truth  will  be  Truth  tho'  it  sometimes  prove  morti- 
iy\w^  and  distasteful. 


618  APPENDIX. 

APPENDIX  III. 

THE  STORY  OF  FRANKLIIT  AND  HIS  MOTHER. 

[The  following  narrative  has  been  printed  in  so  many  school  books  and 
periodicals,  that  many  persons,  particularly  the  aged,  who  knew  nothing 
else  of  Franklin,  are  familiar  with  this  ingenious  story.  It  cannot  be  true. 
During  the  whole  of  Mrs.  Franklin's  life,  she  was  never  separated  from  her 
son  for  a  longer  period  than  ten  years.  He  left  home  when  he  was  seven- 
teen, revisited  Boston  a  few  months  after,  went  home  again  when  he  was 
twenty-seven,  and  again  "when  he  was  thirty-seven.  After  his  father's 
death,  when  the  events  of  this  narrative  are  said  to  have  occurred,  he  was 
in  Boston  every  two  or  three  years.  The  only  circumstance  which  gives 
the  slightest  probability  to  the  incident  related,  is,  that  his  mother's  eye- 
sight became  exceedingly  defective  during  the  last  few  years  of  her  life.  It 
is  just  possible  that  he  may  have  played  off  upon  his  mother  some  little 
joke,  which  an  inventive  genius,  who  chanced  to  hear  it,  expanded  into 
this  popular  and  entertaining  fiction.  Stories  equally  fabulous  are  related 
of  every  one  who  becomes  famous,  and  these  stories  are  often  related  with 
such  circumstantiality  as  to  take  in  all  except  those  whose  business  it  is  to 
try  and  sift  falsehood  from  truth.  I  tliink  I  could,  in  a  month,  collect 
fables  enough  of  Washington,  Franklin,  and  Napoleon  to  fill  a  volume  like 
this.  The  celebrated  story,  for  example,  of  the  boy  Washington  and  his 
hatchet  may,  or  may  not,  have  had  a  slight  foundation  of  truth,  but,  as  re- 
lated by  the  ingenious  Weems  and  his  copyists,  it  is,  essentially,  a  fiction.] 

Doctor  Benjamin  Franklin,  after  the  decease  of  his  father,  returned  to 
Boston,  in  order  to  pay  his  respects  to  his  mother,  who  resided  in  that  city. 
He  had  been  absent  some  years,  and  at  that  period  of  life,  when  the  great- 
est and  most  rapid  alteration  is  made  in  the  human  appearance;  at  a  time 
when  the  querulous  voice  of  the  stripling  assumes  the  commanding  tone 
of  the  adult,  and  the  smiling  features  of  the  youth  are  succeeded  by  the 
strong  lines  of  manhood.  The  Doctor  was  sensible,  such  was  the  altera- 
tion of  his  person,  that  his  mother  could  not  know  him,  except  by  that  in- 
stinct which  it  is  believed  can  cause  a  mother's  heart  to  beat  violently  in  the 
presence  of  a  child,  and  point  the  maternal  eye,  with  a  quick  and  sudden 
glance,  to  a  beloved  son. 

To  discover  the  existence  of  this  instinct  by  actual  experience,  Franklin 
resolved  to  introduce  himself,  as  a  stranger,  to  his  mother,  and  to  watch 
narrowly  for  the  moment  in  which  she  should  discover  her  son,  and  then 
to  determine,  with  the  cool  precision  of  the  philosopher,  whether  that  dis- 


APPENDIX.  619 

coverj  was  the  effect  of  that  instinct  of  affection— that  intuitive  love-that 
mnate  attachment,  which  is  conjectured  to  cement  relatives  of  the  same 
blood ;  and  which,  by  according  the  passions  of  parent  and  child,  like  a 
well-tuned  viol,  would,  at  the  first  touch,  cause  them  to  vibrate  in  unison, 
and  at  once  evince  that  they  were  but  different  chords  of  the  same  instru- 
ment. 

On  a  sullen,  chilly  day,  in  the  month  of  January,  in  the  afternoon,  the 
Doctor  knocked  at  his  mother's  door,  and  asked  to  speak  with  Mrs.  Frank- 
lin. He  found  the  old  lady  knitting  before  the  parlor  fire— introduced  him- 
self, by  observing,  that  he  had  been  informed  she  entertained  travelers, 
and  requested  a  night's  lodging.  She  eyed  him  with  that  cold  look  of  dis- 
approbation which  most  people  assume  when  they  imagine  themselves  in- 
mlted,  by  being  supposed  to  exercise  an  employment  but  one  degree  below 
their  real  occupation  in  life ;  assured  him  that  he  had  been  misinformed— 
that  she  did  not  keep  tavern ;  but  that  it  was  true,  to  oblige  some  members 
of  the  Legislature,  she  took  a  number  of  them  into  her  family,  during  the 
session ;  that  she  had  then  four  members  of  the  Council,  and  six  of  the 
Flouse  of  Eepresentatives,  who  boarded  with  her— that  all  the  beds  were 
full ;  and  betook  herself  'to  knitting,  with  that  intense  application  which 
expressed,  as  forcibly  as  action  could  do.  If  you  have  concluded  your  busi- 
ness, the  sooner  you  leave  the  house  the  better.  But  upon  the  Doctor's 
wrapping  his  coat  around  him  affecting  to  shiver  with  cold,  and  observing 
t  was  very  chilly  weather,  she  pointed  to  a  chair,  and  gave  him  leave  to 
wsirm  himself. 

The  entrance  of  her  boarders  precluded  all  further  conversation — 
;offee  was  soon  served,  and  the  Doctor  partook  with  the  family.  To 
;he  coffee,  according  to  good  old  custom  of  the  times,  succeeded  a  plate  of 
)ippins,  pipes,  and  a  paper  of  McEntire's  best,  when  the  whole  family 
brmed  a  cheerful  smoking  semicircle  before  the  fire.  Perhaps  no  man 
3ver  possessed  the  colloquial  powers  to  a  more  fascinating  degree  than  Dr. 
Franklin :  and  never  was  there  an  occasion  when  he  displayed  these  powers 
;o  greater  advantage,  than  at  this  time.  He  drew  the  attention  of  the 
company  by  the  solidity  of  modest  remark,  instructed  them  by  varied, 
lew  and  striking  lights,  in  which  he  placed  his  subject,  and  delighted  them 
svith  apt  and  amusing  anecdotes.  Thus  employed,  the  hours  passed  merrily 
ilong,  until  eight  o'clock,  when,  punctual  to  a  moment,  Mrs.  Franklin  an- 
lounced  supper.  Busied  with  the  household  affairs,  she  fancied  the  intru- 
ling  stranger  had  quitted  the  house,  immediately  after  coffee,  and  it  was 
vith  difiiculty  she  could  restrain  her  resentment  when  she  saw  him,  with- 
)ut  molestation,  seat  himself  at  the  table  with  the  freedom  of  a  member  of 
he  family. 

Immediately  after  supper,  she  called  an  elderly  gentleman,  a  member  of 
;he  Council,  in  u'hom  she  was  accustomed  to  confide,  in  another  room, 


620  APPENDIX. 

complained  bitterly  of  the  rudeness  of  the  stranger,  told  the  manner  of  his 
introduction  to  the  house,  observed  that  he  appeared  like  an  outlandish 
man ;  and,  she  thought,  had  something  verj  suspicious  in  his  appearance ; 
concluding,  by  soliciting  her  friend's  advice  with  respect  to  the  way  in 
which  she  could  most  easily  rid  herself  of  his  presence.  The  old  gentle- 
man assured  her,  that  the  stranger  was  certainly  a  young  man  of  education, 
and  to  all  appearance  a  gentleman  ;  that  perhaps,  being  in  agreeable  com- 
pany, he  had  paid  no  attention  to  the  lateness  of  the  hour  ;  and  advised  her 
to  call  him  aside,  and  repeat  to  him  her  inability  to  lodge  him.  She  ac- 
cordingly sent  her  maid  to  him,  and  then,  with  as  much  temper  as  she 
could  command,  recapitulated  the  situation  of  her  family ;  observed  that 
it  grew  late,  and  mildly  intimated,  that  he  would  do  well  to  seek  himself  a 
lodging.  The  Doctor  replied  that  he  would  by  no  means,  incommode  her 
family ;  but  that,  with  her  leave,  he  would  smoke  one  pipe  more  with  her 
boarders,  and  then  retire. 

He  returned  to  the  company,  filled  his  pipe,  and  with  the  first  whiff,  his 
powers  of  converse  returned  with  double  force.  He  recounted  the  hard- 
ships—he extolled  the  piety  and  policy  of  their  ancestors.  A  gentleman 
present  mentioned  the  subject  of  the  day's  debate  in  the  House  of  Repre- 
sentatives. A  Bill  had  been  introduced,  to  extend  the  prerogatives  of  the 
Eoyal  Governor.  The  Doctor  immediately  entered  upon  the  subject — sup- 
ported Colonial  rights  with  new  and  forcible  arguments,  was  familiar  with 
the  names  of  the  influential  men  in  the  House,  when  Dudley  was  Governor, 
recited  their  speeches,  and  applauded  the  noble  defense  of  the  chamber  of 
rights. 

During  a  discourse  so  appropriately  interesting  to  the  company,  no 
wonder  the  clock  struck  eleven,  unperceived  by  the  delighted  circle  :  nor 
was  it  wonderful  that  the  patience  of  Mrs.  Franklin  grew  quite  ex- 
hausted. She  now  entered  the  room  and  before  the  whole  company,  with 
much  warmth  addressed  the  Doctor ;  told  him  plainly,  she  thought  herself 
imposed  on  ;  observed  that  it  was  true,  she  was  a  lone  woman,  but  that  she 
had  friends  who  would  protect  her,  and  concluded  by  insisting  on  his  leav- 
ing the  house.  The  Doctor  made  a  slight  apology,  deliberately  put  on 
his  great  coat  and  hat,  took  a  polite  leave  of  the  company,  and  approached 
the  street  door,  lighted  by  the  maid  and  attended  by  the  mistress.  While 
the  Doctor  and  his  companions  had  been  enjoying  themselves  within,  a 
most  tremendous  snow-storm,  had,  without,  filled  the  streets  knee  deep, 
and  no  sooner  had  the  maid  lifted  up  the  latch,  than  a  roaring  northeaster 
forced  open  the  door,  extinguished  the  light,  and  almost  filled  the  entry 
with  drifted  snow  and  hail.  As  soon  as  the  candle  was  relighted,  the 
Doctor  cast  a  woeful  look  towards  the  door  and  thus  addressed  his  mother  ; 
"  My  dear  Madam,  can  you  turn  me  out  of  your  house  in  this  dreadful 


APPENDIX.  621 

storm ;  I  am  a  stranger  in  this  town  and  shall  certainly  perish  in  the 
streets.  You  look  like  a  charitable  lady ;  I  shouldn't  think  you  could  turn 
a  dog  from  your  door  on  this  tempestuous  night."  "  Don't  tell  me  of 
charity,"  said  the  offended  matron  ;  "Charity  begins  at  home.  It  is  your 
own  fault  you  tarried  so  long.  To  be  plain  with  you,  Sir,  I  do  not  like 
your  looks,  or  your  conduct,  and  I  fear  you  have  some  bad  designs,  in  thus 
introducing  yourself  to  my  family. 

The  warmth  of  this  parley  had  drawn  the  company  from  the  parlor,  and 
by  their  united  interference,  the  stranger  was  permitted  to  lodge  in  the 
house ;  and  as  no  bed  could  be  had,  he  consented  to  repose  on  an  easy 
chair  before  the  parlor  fire.  Although  her  boarders  appeared  to  confide 
perfectly  in  the  stranger's  honesty,  it  was  not  so  with  Mrs.  Franklin ;  with 
suspicious  caution,  she  collected  her  silver  spoons,  pepper  box,  and  por- 
ringer, from  her  closet,  and  after  securing  the  parlor  door,  by  sticking  a 
fork  over  the  latch,  carried  the  plate  to  the  chamber,  charged  the  negro 
man  to  sleep  with  his  clothes  on,  to  take  the  great  cleaver  to  bed  with 
him,  and  to  waken  and  seize  the  vagrant  at  the  first  noise  he  made  in  at- 
tempting to  plunder  the  house.  Having  thus  taken  every  precaution,  she 
retired  to  bed  with  her  maid,  whom  she  compelled  to  sleep  in  her  room. 

Mrs.  Franklin  rose  before  the  sun,  roused  her  domestics,  unfastened  the 
parlor  door  with  timid  caution,  and  was  agreeably  surprised  to  find  her 
guest  quietly  sleeping  in  the  chair.  A  sudden  transition  from  extreme 
mistrust  to  perfect  confidence,  was  natural.  She  awakened  him  with  a 
cheerful  good  morning,  inquired  how  he  had  rested,  and  invited  him  to  par- 
take of  her  breakfast,  which  was  always  served  previous  to  that  of  the 
boarders.  And,  pray.  Sir,  said  the  old  lady,  as  she  sipped  her  chocolate, 
as  you  appear  to  be  a  stranger  here,  to  what  distant  country  do  you  belong  ? 
I,  Madam,  I  belong  to  the  city  of  Philadelphia !  The  Doctor  declared  he 
for  the  first  time  perceived  any  emotion  in  her.  Philadelphia  ?  said  she, 
and  all  the  mother  suffused  her  eye.  If  you  live  in  Philadelphia,  perhaps 
you  know  our  Ben.  Who,  Madam?  "Why  Ben  Franklin ;  my  Ben:  oh! 
he  is  the  dearest  child  that  ever  blest  a  mother !  What,  said  the  Doctor, 
is  Ben  Franklin,  the  printer,  your  son  ?  why  he  is  my  most  intimate  friend ; 
he  and  I  lodge  in  the  same  room.  Oh !  God  forgive  me !  exclaimed  the 
old  lady,  raising  her  watery  eyes  to  heaven — and  I  suffered  an  acquaintance 
of  my  Benny  to  sleep  on  this  hard  chair,  while  I,  myself,  rested  on  a  good 
bed. 

How  the  Doctor  discovered  himself  to  his  mother  he  has  not  informed 
us ;  but,  from  the  above  experiment,  he  was  firmly  convinced  and  was  often 
afterwards  heard  to  declare,  that  natural  affection  does  not  exist.* 

*  Percy  Anecdotes,  vol.  ii,  p.  140. 


622  APPENDIX. 


APPENDIX  IV. 

THE  CRAVEN  STEEET  GAZETTE. 

The  following  is  the  burlesque,  referred  to  in  p.  551  of  this  volume,  writ- 
ten by  Dr.  Franklin  to  Mrs.  Margaret  Stevenson,  his  landlady,  during  her 
absence  from  home : 

Saturday,  September  22,  1770. 

This  morning  Queen  Margaret,  accompanied  by  her  first  maid  of  honor, 
Miss  Franklin,  set  out  for  Rochester.  Immediately  on  their  departure,  the 
whole  street  was  in  tears — from  a  heavy  shower  of  rain.  It  is  whispered, 
that  the  new  family  administration,  which  took  place  on  her  Majesty's  de- 
parture, promises,  like  all  other  new  administrations,  to  go\'ern  much  bet- 
ter than  the  old  one. 

We  hear,  that  the  great  person  (so  called  from  his  enormous  size),  of  a 
certain  family  in  a  certain  street,  is  grievously  affected  at  the  late  changes, 
and  could  hardly  be  comforted  this  morning  ,though  the  new  ministry  prom- 
ised him  a  roasted  shoulder  of  mutton  and  potatoes  for  his  dinner. 

It  is  said  that  the  same  great  person  intended  to  pay  his  respects  to 
another  great  personage  this  day,  at  St.  James's,  it  being  coronation-day ; 
hoping  thereby  a  little  to  amuse  his  grief;  but  was  prevented  by  an  acci- 
dent, Queen  Margaret,  or  her  maid  of  honor,  having  carried  off  the  key  of 
the  drawers,  so  that  the  lady  of  the  bed-chamber  could  not  come  at  a  laced 
shirt  for  his  Highness.  Great  clamors  were  made  on  this  occasion  against 
her  Majesty. 

Other  accounts  say,  that  the  shirts  were  afterwards  found,  though  too 
late,  in  another  place.  And  some  suspect,  that  the  wanting  a  shirt  from 
those  drawers  was  only  a  ministerial  pretense  to  excuse  picking  the  locks, 
that  the  new  administration  might  have  every  thing  at  command. 

We  hear  that  the  lady  chamberlain  of  the  household  went  to  market  this 
morning  by  her  own  self,  gave  the  butcher  whatever  he  asked  for  the  mut- 
ton, and  had  no  dispute  with  the  potato- woman,  to  their  great  amazement 
at  the  change  of  times. 

It  is  confidently  asserted,  that  this  afternoon,  the  weather  being  wet,  the 
great  person  a  little  chilly,  and  nobody  at  home  to  find  fault  with  the  ex- 
pense of  fuel,  he  was  indulged  with  a  fire  in  his  chamber.  It  seems  the 
design  is,  to  make  him  contented  by  degrees  with  the  absence  of  the 
Queen. 

A  project  has  been  under  consideration  of  government,  to  take  the  oppor- 
tunity of  her  Majesty's  absence  for  doing  a  thing  she  was  always  averse  to, , 


APPENDIX.  623 

namely,  fixing  a  new  lock  on  the  street  door,  or  getting  a  key  made  to  the 
old  one ;  it  being  found  extremely  inconvenient,  that  one  or  other  of  the 
great  officers  of  state  should,  whenever  the  maid  goes  out  for  a  ha'penny 
worth  of  sand,  or  a  pint  of  porter,  he  obliged  to  attend  the  door  to  let  her 
in  again.  But  opinions  being  divided,  which  of  the  two  expedients  to  adopt, 
the  project  is,  for  the  present,  laid  aside. 

We  have  good  authority  to  assure  our  readers,  that  a  Cabinet  Council 
was  held  this  afternoon  at  tea ;  the  subject  of  which  was  a  proposal  for  the 
reformation  of  manners,  and  a  more  strict  observation  of  the  Lord's  day. 
The  result  was  a  unanimous  resolution,  that  no  meat  should  be  dressed  to- 
morrow ;  whereby  the  cook  and  the  first  minister  will  both  be  at  liberty  to 
go  to  church,  the  one  having  nothing  to  do,  and  the  other  no  roast  to  rule. 
It  seems  the  cold  shoulder  of  mutton,  and  the  apple-pie,  were  thought  suf- 
ficient for  Sunday's  dinner.  All  pious  people  applaud  this  measure,  and  it 
is  thought  the  new  ministry  will  soon  become  popular. 

"We  hear  that  Mr.  "Wilkes  was  at  a  certain  house  in  Craven  Street  this  day, 
and  inquired  after  the  absent  Queen.  His  good  lady  and  the  children  are 
well. 

The  report,  that  Mr.  Wilkes,  the  patriot,  made  the  above  visit,  is  without 
foundation,  it  being  his  brother,  the  courtier. 

Sunday,  September  23. 

It  is  now  found  by  sad  experience,  that  good  resolutions  are  easier  made 
than  executed.  Notwithstanding  yesterday's  solemn  order  of  Council,  no- 
body went  to  church  to-day.  It  seems  the  great  person's  broad-built  bulk  lay 
so  long  abed,  that  the  breakfast  was  not  over  till  it  was  too  late  to  dress.  At 
least  this  is  the  excuse.  In  fine,  it  seems  a  vain  thing  to  hope  reformation 
from  the  example  of  our  great  folks. 

The  cook  and  the  minister,  however,  both  took  advantage  of  the  order 
so  far,  as  to  save  themselves  all  trouble,  and  the  clause  of  cold  dinner  was 
enforced,  though  the  going  to  church  was  dispensed  with ;  just  as  com- 
mon working  folks  observe  the  commandment.  The  seventh  day  thou 
shalt  rest,  they  think  a  sacred  injunction ;  but  the  other  six  days  thou  shalt 
labor  is  deemed  a  mere  piece  of  advice,  which  they  may  practice  when  they 
want  bread  and  are  out  of  credit  at  the  ale-house,  and  may  neglect  when- 
ever they  have  money  in  their  pockets. 

It  must,  nevertheless,  be  said,  in  justice  to  our  court,  that,  whatever  in- 
clination they  had  to  gaming,  no  cards  were  brought  out  to-day.  Lord  and 
Lady  Hewson  walked  after  dinner  to  Kensington,  to  pay  their  duty  to  the 
Dowager,  and  Dr.  Fatsides  made  four  hundred  and  sixty-nine  turns  to  his 
dining-room,  as  the  exact  distance  of  a  visit  to  the  lovely  Lady  Barwell, 
whom  he  did  not  find  at  home ;  so  there  was  no  struggle  for  and  against  a 
kiss,  and  he  sat  down  to  dream  in  the  easy-chair,  that  he  had  it  without 
any  trouble. 


624  APPENDIX. 

Monday,  September  2i. 

We  are  credibly  informed,  that  the  great  person  dined  this  day  with  th3 
Club  at  the  Cat  and  Bagpipes  in  the  City,  on  cold  round  of  boiled  beef. 
This,  it  seems,  he  was  under  some  necessity  of  doing  (though  he  rather  dis- 
likes beef),  because  truly  the  ministers  were  to  be  all  abroad  somewhere  to 
dine  on  hot  roast  venison.  It  is  thought,  that,  if  the  Queen  had  been  at 
home,  he  would  not  have  been  so  slighted.  And  though  he  shows  out- 
wardly no  marks  of  dissatisfaction,  it  is  suspected  that  he  begins  to  wish 
for  her  Majesty's  return. 

It  is  currently  reported,  that  poor  Nanny  had  nothing  for  dinner  in  the 
kitchen,  for  herself  and  puss,  but  the  scrapings  of  the  bones  of  Saturday's 
mutton. 

This  evening  there  was  high  play  at  Craven  Street  House.  The  great 
person  lost  money.  It  is  supposed  the  ministers,  as  is  usually  supposed  of  all 
ministers,  shared  the  emoluments  among  them. 

Tuesday,  September  25. 

This  morning  the  good  Lord  Hutton  called  at  Craven-Street  House,  and 
inquired  very  respectfully  and  affectionately  concerning  the  welfare  of  the 
Queen.  He  then  imparted  to  the  big  man  a  piece  of  intelligence  important 
to  them  both,  which  he  had  just  received  from  Lady  Hawkesworth,  namely, 
that  their  amiable  and  excellent  companion.  Miss  Dorothea  Blount,  had  made 
a  vow  to  marry  absolutely  him  of  the  two,  whose  wife  should  first  depart 
this  life.  It  is  impossible  to  express  with  words  the  various  agitations  of 
mind  appearing  in  both  their  faces  on  this  occasion ;  vanity  at  the  preference 
given  them  over  the  rest  of  mankind ;  affection  for  their  present  wives ;  fear 
of  losing  them ;  hope  (if  they  must  lose  them)  to  obtain  the  proposed  com- 
fort ;  jealousy  of  each  other,  in  case  both  wives  should  die  together — all 
working  at  the  same  time,  jumbled  their  features  into  inexplicable  confu- 
sion. They  parted,  at  length,  with  professions  and  outward  appearances  of 
ever-during  friendship  ;  but  it  was  shrewdly  suspected,  that  each  of  them 
wished  health  and  long  life  to  the  other's  wife ;  and  that  however  long 
either  of  these  friends  might  like  to  live  himself,  the  other  would  be  very 
well  pleased  to  survive  him. 

It  is  remarked  that  the  skies  have  wept  every  day  in  Craven  Street  the  ab- 
sence of  the  Queen. 

The  public  may  be  assured,  that  this  morning  a  certain  great  person  was 
asked  very  complaisantly  by  the  mistress  of  the  household,  if  he  would 
choose  to  have  the  blade-bone  of  Saturday's  mutton,  that  had  been  kept  for 
his  dinner  to-day,  broiled  or  cold.  He  answered  gravely.  If  there  is  any 
Jiesh  on  it^  it  may  he  broiled  ;  if  not,  it  may  as  well  be  cold.  Orders  were 
accordingly  given  for  broiling  it.  But  when  it  came  to  tabte,  there  was  in- 
deed so  very  little  flesh,  or  rather  none  at  all  (puss  having  dined  on  it 
yesterday  after  Nauny),  that,  if  our  new  administration  had  been  as  good 


APPENDIX.  625 

economists  as  thej  would  be  thought,  the  expense  of  broUing  might  well  have 
been  saved  to  the  public,  and  carried  to  the  sinking  fund.  It  is  assured  the 
great  person  bears  all  with  infinite  patience.  But  the  nation  is  astonished  at 
the  insolent  presumption,  that  dares  treat  so  much  mildness  in  so  cruel  a 
manner. 

A  terrible  accident  had  like  to  have  happened  this  afternoon  at  tea.  The 
boiler  was  set  too  near  the  end  of  the  little  square  table.  The  first  minis- 
tress  was  sitting  at  one  end  of  the  table  to  administer  the  tea ;  the  great 
person,  was  about  to  sit  down  at  the  other  end,  where  the  boiler  stood.  By 
a  sudden  motion,  the  lady  gave  the  table  a  tilt.  Had  it  gone  over,  the  great 
person  must  have  been  scalded ;  perhaps  to  death.  Various  are  the  sur- 
mises and  observations  on  this  occasion.  The  godly  say,  it  would  have  been 
a  just  judgment  on  him  for  preventing  by  his  laziness,  the  family's  going  to 
charch  last  Sunday.  The  opposition  do  not  stick  to  insinuate,  that  there 
was  a  design  to  scald  him,  prevented  only  by  his  quick  catching  the  table. 
The  friends  of  the  ministry  give  out,  that  he  carelessly  jogged  the  table  him- 
self, and  would  have  been  inevitably  scalded  had  not  the  ministress  saved  him. 
It  is  hard  for  the  public  to  come  at  the  truth  in  these  cases. 

At  six  o'clock  this  afternoon,  news  came  by  the  post,  that  her  Majesty  ar- 
rived safely  at  Rochester  on  Saturday  night.  The  bells  immediately  rang — 
for  candles  to  illuminate  the  parlor;  the  court  went  into  cribbage;  and 
the  evening  concluded  with  every  demonstration  of  joy. 

It  is  reported  that  all  the  principal  officers  of  state  have  received  an  in- 
vitation from  the  Duchess  Dowager  of  Rochester,  to  go  down  thither  on 
Saturday  next.  But  it  is  not  yet  known  whether  the  great  affairs  they  have 
on  their  hands  will  permit  them  to  make  this  excursion. 

We  hear,  that,  from  the  time  of  her  Majesty's  leaving  Craven  Street 
House  to  this  day,  no  care  is  taken  to  file  the  newspapers;  but  they  lie 
about  in  every  room,  in  every  window,  and  on  every  chair,  just  where  the 
Doctor  lays  them  when  he  has  read  them.  It  is  impossible  government 
can  long  go  on  in  sach  hands. 


APPENDIX  V. 

*      FRANKLIN  AND  WHITEFIELD. 

[The  following  letter,  never  before  published,  written  by  Dr.  Franklin  in 
his  character  of  agent  for  Georgia,  contains  allusions  to  Mr.  Whitefield, 
which  give  it  value.  The  letter  was  brought  from  Georgia  by  Bishop  Ste- 
vens, of  Pennsylvania,  and  reaches  the  reader  through  the  friendly  inter- 
position of  Mr.  "William  Duane,  of  Philadelphia.] 

London,  March  5,  1771. 

Sir:  I  duly  received  several  favors  of  October  9.  and  December  13,  in- 
closing bills  of  exchange,  viz.:  on  Greenwood  &  Higginson  for  £100;  on 
Campbell,  £20; — £120:  which  are  paid,  and  carried  to  the  credit  of  the 
province  account.  I  am  much  obliged  to  you  and  the  Assembly  for  so 
readily  transmitting  them,  and  it  makes  me  very  happy  to  understand  that 
my  endeavors  in  their  service  are  in  any  degree  acceptable. 

Notwithstanding  the  ample  recommendations  brought  out  by  Mr.  Win- 
tor,  the  bishop  of  London  has  refused  him  ordination,  for  two  reasons,  as  I 
understand ;  his  mechanical  education,  and  his  connection  with  Mr.  White- 
field  and  the  Methodists.  I  did  not  think  either  of  these  of  so  much  weight 
as  to  discourage  me  from  attempting  to  get  him  ordained  by  some  other 
bishop,  or  to  make  so  strong  an  application  to  the  bishop  of  London  as  might 
overcome  his  lordship's  objections.  Accordingly,  I  endeavored  to  engage 
in  his  favor  the  associates  of  Dr.  Bray,  a  society  of  which  I  have  long  been 
a  member.  As  it  was  established  for  purposes  similar  to  that  of  Mr.  Zouber- 
buckler's  will,  I  hoped  they  would  readily  have  afforded  us  the  weight  of 
their  recommendation,  on  my  laying  before  them  a  copy  of  the  will,  copies 
of  several  letters  from  you  and  Mr.  Haversham,  etc.  But  the  idea  of  his 
being  a  Methodist,  and  the  imagination  of  his  neglecting  the  negroes  and 
becoming  an  itinerant  preacher,  disturbing  regular  congregations,  etc.,  as 
soon  as  he  should  obtain  ordination,  I  found  were  thought  sufficient  reasons 
to  prevent  their  concerning  tliemselves  in  the  affair.  However,  I  do  not  yet 
quite  despair  of  it.  Mentioning  Mr.  Whitefield,  I  cannot  forbear  expressing 
the  pleasure  it  gave  me  to  see  in  the  newspapers  an  account  of  the  respect 
paid  to  his  memory  by  your  Assembly.  T  knew  him  intimately  upwards  of 
30  years :  his  integrity,  disinterestedness,  and  indefatigable  zeal  in  prosecu- 
ting every  good  work,  I  have  never  seen  equaled,  I  shall  never  see  exceeded. 

The  inclosed  paper  has  been  put  into  my  hand  by  Mr.  Maudit,  a  princi- 


APPENDIX. 


627 


pal  man  among  the  Dissenters  here.  I  promised  him  to  communicate  it  to 
you.  The  Dissenters  were  for  complaining  to  Government,  and  petitioning 
for  redress ;  but  Mr.  Maudit  advised  that  Mr.  Frink  should  first  be  written 
to,  as  possibly  he  might  be  dissuaded  from  persisting  in  such  demands.  I 
know  nothing  of  the  circumstances  but  what  appears  in  the  paper,  nor  am 
I  acquainted  with  your  laws ;  but  I  make  no  doubt  you  will  advise  what 
is  proper  and  prudent  to  be  done  in  the  affair.  The  Dissenters  in  those 
northern  colonies,  where  they  are  predominant,  have  by  laws  exempted 
those  of  the  Church  of  England  residing  among  them  from  all  rates  and 
payments  towards  the  support  of  the  dissenting  clergy ;  and  methinks  it 
would  be  a  pity  to  give  them  a  hand  against  re-enacting  those  laws  when 
they  expire ;  for  they  are  temporary,  and  their  perpetual  laws  tax  all  sects 
alike.  The  colonies  have  adversaries  enough  to  their  common  privileges : 
they  should  endeavor  to  agree  among  themselves,  and  avoid  every  thing 
that  may  make  ill-blood  and  promote  divisions,  which  must  weaken  them 
in  their  common  defense. 

If  the  laws  of  your  province  are  printed,  I  should  wish  to  be  furnished 
with  a  copy ;  it  must  be  sometimes  of  use  to  me  in  the  management  of  your 
business. 

With  great  esteem  and  respect  I  have  the  honor  to  be. 

Sir,  your  most  obedient,  humble  servant, 

B.  Feanklin. 

P.  S.  I  shall  shortly  write  fully  to  the  committee  relating  to  the  matters 
referred  to  in  their  letter  of  May  23d,  '70 — ^in  the  mean  time  be  so  good  as 
to  inform  them  that  thebusiness  has  not  been  neglected.  The  hurry  in  our 
public  councils  during  the  first  part  of  the  winter,  occasioned  by  the  ex- 
pectations of  an  immediate  foreign  war,  and  the  domestic  confusions  that 
took  place  after  the  Convention,  have  been  great  hindrances  to  proceeding 
in  American  affairs. 


MR.   PARTON'S  WORKS. 


"Mr.  Parton  is,"  says  the  London  Atfienceujn,  "a  writer  of  whom  the  people  of 
the  United  States  have  reason  to  be  proud." 

No  biographer  has  written  more  successfully  in  the  English  language  than  Mr. 
Parton.  The  freshness  and  vigor  of  his  style,  and  the  power  of  retaining  the  in- 
terest of  his  readers  through  the  dryest  details,  are  universally  recognized.  Each 
of  his  works  has  attracted  much  attention  and  enjoyed  an  extensive  sale,  on  its 
first  appearance,  and  they  have  taken  their  place  in  the  front  rank  of  standard 
biographies. 

Oeneral  Butler  in  Bfeiv  Orlean§.    A  History  of  the  Administration 

of  the  Department  of  the  G-ulf  in  the  year  1862,  with  an  Account  of  the  Capture 

of  New  Orleans,  and  a  Sketch  of  the  Previous  Career  of  the  Greneral,  Civil  and 

Military.    15th  edition.    Crown  octavo,  with  Portrait  on  Steel  and  Maps.    660  pp. 

Cloth  extra $2  50  |  Half  calf  extra $4  GO 

lAfe  of  Jackgon.   A  Life  of  Andrew  Jackson,  President  of  the  United  States. 

3  vols,  crown  octavo,  636,  672,  and  734  pp.,  with  Portraits  on  SteeL 

Cloth  extra. $7  50  |  In  half  calf  extra $12  00 

A  life  indeed,  and  before  which  the  conventional  and  common-place  biographies 
of  modern  times  sink  into  stupidity  and  insignificance. — K.  Y.  Journal  of  Commerce. 
A  fresher,  livelier  account  was  never  written  of  any  hero  by  any  author. — Boston 
Journal.  Possesses  a  degree  of  interest  which  can  scarcely  be  overstated. — N.  Y. 
World.  A  work  of  impartial,  accurate  history  which,  from  the  remarkable  charac- 
ter of  its  hero,  is  more  captivating  and  exciting  than  any  novel — Eastern  Argus. 
One  of  the  most  readable  of  books.     Every  page  is  alive. — Home  Journal. 

liife  of  Aaron  Burr.  The  Life  and  Times  of  Aaron  Burr,  Lieut.-Col.  in 
the  Army  of  the  Revolution,  United  States  Senator,  Third  Yice-President  of  the 
United  States,  etc.  Seventeenth  Edition,  revised  and  enlarged.  2  vols.,  crown 
octavo,  with  Portraits  on  Steel. 

Cloth  extra. $4  00  j  In  half  calf  extra. $7  00 

Doubtless  the  most  successful  biography  ever  published  in  America. — Harper''s 
Weekly.  One  of  the  very  best  specimens  of  historical  biography  with  which  we 
are  acquainted. — Scottish  Amer.  Magazine.  Ought  to  be  read  by  every  American 
who  would  know  the  history  of  his  country. — North  American  Review.  In  style, 
arrangement,  and  honesty  of  purpose,  the  finest  work  of  its  class,  without  a 
shadow  of  reservation,  to  be  found  in  the  whole  range  of  American  literature. — 
Mrs.  Stephens's  Magazine.     A  story  more  exciting  than  romance. — N.  Y.  Evangelist. 

Jjlte  of  Benjamin  Franklin.  It  is  beUeved  to  be  1)he  most  elaborate 
and  interesting  account  yet  given  to  the  world  of  this  great  and  favorite  Ameri- 
can.    2  vols,,  crown  octavo,  with  Portraits  on  Steel. 

Cloth  extra $5  00  |  In  half  calf  extra $7  00 

Before  Mr.  Parton  commenced  the  preparation  of  his  *'  General  Butler  in  New 

Orleans,"  he  had  already  spent  more  than  two  years  upon  this  Life  of  Franklin, 

having  brought  it  near  completion. 

IIunioron§  Poetry  of  the  £ngli§li  Liangnage,  from  Chaucer  to 
Saxe :  including  the  most  celebrated  Comic  Poems  of  the  Anti-Jaoobin,  Rejected 
Addresses,  The  Ingoldsby  Legends,  Blackwood's  Magazine,  Bentley's  Miscellany, 
and  Punch.  "With  more  than  Two  Hundred  Epigrams.  With  notes,  explana- 
tory and  biographical.  Seventh  edition.  Crown  octavo,  689  pp.,  with  Portraits 
on  Steel. 

Cloth  extra $2  50  |  In  half  calf  extra $4  00 

MASON  BROTHERS,  MASON  &  HAMLIN, 

7  Mercee  St.,  New  York  274  Washington  St.,  Boston. 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

I   LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below,  or 

on  the  date  to  which  renewed. 

Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recalL 


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THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


